The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday
by The Thousand Years Queen
Summary: "You look at me like you want something from me and you're disappointed when I don't give it to you." An damaged psychologist's life is upturned when a man in a bow-tie knocks on her door, claiming he's known her all his life. Her life is changed as she jumps from point in the man's timeline to another, as she gets pushed into his life and his hearts. 9/OC, 10/OC, 11/OC for now.
1. In The Beginning

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday– Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Doctor Who definitely does not belong to me. I sincerely wish it did but I suppose it will only be in my dreams.

A/N: OK, so this isn't a completely original idea, but I thought I'd do my own spin on this, please be nice, this is my first Doctor Who fanfic!

* * *

Knocking. At 3 in the morning. Only lunatics knocked on someone's door at this sort of time in the morning. Rhea mused as she tied the belt of her robe around her waist and walked over to the front door.

She opened the latch on the door in order to peak at who was on the other side. A tall man stood outside, barely able to keep his feet on the ground, he was fidgeting so much. She observed him through the peep-hole, her eyes grazing over his body. His hands were empty, but he could pull a weapon out of those pockets of his. She eyed the table placed conveniently next to the door, her gun sitting comfortably in the topmost drawer. She was safe in her confidence in being able to draw it if the man made a move. She gazed at him again. He didn't look like some of the men that came to her door. Unstable patients, angry ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands blaming her for their relationship breaking down. This man's flecked grey eyes were soft but sad and old, his chin was slightly prominent but Rhea thought it looked adorable on him. His hands flapped about at his side, seeking something to touch or to hold. All in all, he looked like a hyperactive six-year old trapped in a twenty-something year old's body.

She took her chances and unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

The man smiled as soon as he saw her. "Ah, there you are! Come on, let's go!"

Rhea frowned. "Excuse me?"

"What would you like to see today? Ooh, you like coffee, why don't we go to the Planet of the Coffee Shops. You can have as many of those venti salted caramel brulée mochas with toffee nut syrup and extra whip that you like so much. Or we can-" He started rambling.

Rhea held out a hand in front in order to stop him from babbling any further. "God, you talk a lot! Who are you?"

The man frowned. "It's me, Rhea. The Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

A smile threatened to break out on his face. She could see it. "Is this a bedroom thing? Is this a joke? I love jokes. I just heard one about-" She grabbed him by the sleeve of his tweed jacket and pulled him inside her apartment, shutting the door behind her. She shoved him into the couch and leaned back against the door, considering him with hesitancy and curiosity. She knew this was probably insanity, inviting a man she had never met into her apartment, who was clearly insane, seeing as he was talking about a planet full of coffee shops, and most likely dangerous, seeing as he had known her name.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man who had righted himself after toppling over the couch.

"You didn't have to shove me!" He whined.

"I'm going to ignore the first thing you said. Who are you? How do you know my name?" She demanded.

Something changed in his eyes. He seemed to realise that she wasn't joking around. He straightened and walked determinedly over to her until he was standing barely three feet away from her. "Rhea, Sunehri, please tell me that you know who I am."

She grimaced when she heard her full name fall out of the strange man's mouth. No one called her by that outlandish Sanskrit name that her father had given her except for her mother, and that was only when she was furious at her. And in her anger, she said it with a really strong Italian accent, so it sounded nothing like what it was suppose to. Whenever people tried to pronounce her complicated first name, she quickly cut them short and insisted that they call her 'Rhea', the only nickname she was able to form from 'Sunehri'.

"How do you know my name?" She repeated the question.

His hands reached up to his face and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Please tell me you know who I am." He searched her face for any possible hint of recognition.

She stared at him. "Who are you?" She asked, blankly.

He flinched and shrunk away from her. His hands reached out to hold something. Maybe her, she couldn't figure it out. Why would he want to grab onto her?

"I was dreading this day. The first time you met me." The man said.

Rhea was beyond confused and was silently creeping into the territory of agitation. The man in front of her knew her name, how she preferred to be called, her address and her coffee order and seemed entirely too upset that she didn't know who he was. Suddenly she was worried whether she was facing a stalker. She looked him over for the third time, lingering over that floppy hair that she just wanted to sink her hands into and drag him closer…and now was not the time for her hormones to get the better of her.

"You still haven't told me who you are." She made a motion for him to speak. She felt a little exposed in the midst of a total stranger who may or may not be a serial killer who knew her and things about her, clad in only a thin purple robe, white tank top and purple shorts.

He ran his hands through his hair. "I told you, I'm the Doctor."

"Yeah, well so am I, sweetheart. Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

"Seriously, you're just called the Doctor?" She had to ask.

"Well yes, that's what people call me." The Doctor said.

Rhea smacked her lips. Well, that was one question at least half-answered. "How do you know my name?"

He smiled wryly at me. "I've known you for a very long time."

Rhea shook her head. "That's impossible. I've never met you before, and I would remember a man like you."

The man preened. "Why? Because I'm so amazing?"

Rhea smirked. "No. Because I'd remember a guy wearing a bow-tie and suspenders who thinks it normal to knock on a girl's door at three in the morning."

"Hey, don't knock the bow-tie! Bow-ties are cool."

"I'm sure you think so." Rhea grinned then sobered. Now was not the time to be teasing the man who might try to kill her any second now, even if he did look all manners of hot, in a hot college student kind of way. Even though she was confident that she'd be able to dodge any attack and make it to her gun before anything really serious happened, she didn't exactly relish the thought being evicted out of her apartment because of a shoot-out. She was starting to realise why she had been such a loner back in high school if a hot guy was in her apartment in the middle of the night and her mind went to the gun sitting in her hall table.

Suddenly, she flinched and drew back, her back hitting the door behind her. Her eyes and temple seared with pain and she lifted a hand to clutch her head. She could vaguely see the Doctor rushing over to her and wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her slowly over to the sofa and force her to sit down.

She shoved him away to no avail. "Hands off the goods, mystery man." Her voice slurred.

She had headaches before. She had them frequently. In fact, when she was sixteen, she had two surgeries in the span of six months in order to arrest severe sinusitis that had given her headaches which forced her to curl under her covers like a spooning armadillo. She got mild migraines now and then as a result of stress and guilt and ongoing insomnia due to nightmares. There had been a time in her life where her life had existed in a state of perpetual uncertainty between fear and pain that had resulted in a broken woman who relived the worst times of her life in the form of dreams.

"Headache, huh?" The Doctor asked with all the sympathy of a kindred spirit as well as someone who knew more than he was letting on.

"No kidding, Captain Obvious. Surprised?" Rhea asked through the pain, still determined to figure out who this man was.

"No, this was expected and in a good way too!" He said, cheerfully.

"Why?" She ground out. What sort of man was he if he was happy when a woman was in blinding pain right next to him?

"Because if this is the first time you've met me and you're getting headaches, that means it's starting."

"What's starting?" She demanded and then doubled over, clutching her head. She saw black spots in her vision and knew nothing after that.

* * *

When Rhea woke up, she was lying on her bed, placed neatly inside her covers. She looked over to her bedside table, her clock showing that almost six hours had passed since she had woken up to answer the door. The empty vase that had been situated on her bedside table actually had flowers in them, flowers she didn't recognise of the top of her head, but flowers nonetheless. There was a tall glass of water placed on the table which she drunk gratefully, and then pressed the bottom of the glass against her sore eyes. She guessed her mystery man had been the one to tuck her in and leave her water which made her wonder whether he was still here and what he was doing in her apartment. The thought made her rise up from her pillow quickly, but her legs became tangled in the voluminous sheets that the Doctor had piled on top of her and she fell to her bedroom floor with a shriek.

The door slammed open and the Doctor was by her side in a flash.

"Rhea, are you alright? I heard a scream." The Doctor asked urgently.

She waved his hands away. "I'm fine. I was in bed and I don't remember going."

The Doctor waved his hands about. "You had a headache. Then you collapsed. Then I put you in bed. Are you alright?"

She reached up and rubbed her head. "My head's a little sore but mostly I'm confused."

"That's natural. I get confused sometimes as well."

She held out her arms and motioned for him to pull her. "Come on, help me up."

He gripped her arms tightly and pulled her up. Her legs wobbled and gave in and she crumpled and the Doctor hurried to wrap an arm around her waist to steady her. When she bothered to look up she noticed that she was standing incredibly close to him. Her hand reached up and clutched his bicep to steady her legs and pushed herself away from his body just slightly.

"So tell me, did I miss anything?" Rhea asked.

"Well, your mother called, lovely woman she is, she wanted to know how you were doing and to remind you that she's coming over tonight."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "She didn't wonder why a strange man was answering my phone?"

The Doctor looked sheepish. "Well, I might have told her that I was a new friend."

Rhea groaned. Knowing her mother, she could take 'friend' any way. Literal sense or biblical sense. The last thing she wanted was for her mother too think she had gone off the edge and started inviting strange men into her apartment.

"Lovely woman?" Rhea questioned.

"She seemed very lovely on the phone." The Doctor said.

Rhea smiled. Lovely. That was her mother. But Seraphina Adwani was a total Mama Bear. Territorial and bitchy when provoked, especially when people messed with her only daughter. After the death of her husband, Rhea's father, when her daughter had been seventeen, she had started living only for her daughter. She called her every day and, on the days when Rhea worked late, brought delicious hot food right to her office. Rhea maintained her mother was maintaining her likeness to Marie Barone.

"I am curious though. You haven't thrown me out yet?" The Doctor wondered.

They walked together back into the lounge and Rhea parked herself on the sofa.

"My current reasoning is that a man who wanted to kill me would not have put me in bed after I blacked out," She paused. "Which is a very short-sighted reasoning. Well, I suppose you could still be a stalker. You could have spent the last six hours rifling through my underwear drawer."

The Doctor looked scandalised. Rhea looked amused. "Rhea, please!"

Rhea laughed. It was a low and throaty sound. The blush that spread down the Doctor's cheeks to his neck was both adorable and attractive and she resolved to make him look like that more often.

"So, stalker or friend? That's the question, isn't it? Come on, mystery man, tell me who you are." Rhea asked, leaning back and placing her hands behind her head.

"I told you, I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor of what, exactly?" Rhea asked.

He shrugged. It was like looking at an old man in teenager's body. "All sorts of things, I suppose."

"How do you know my name?"

A smile played on his lips. "I told you, I've known you for a very long time."

"But, before six hours ago, I have never seen you before in my life."

"Last night was the first time you met me, but not the first time I met you."

Rhea glared at him. "God, are you always this infuriating?"

He grinned. "Yes."

"How old are you?" He asked suddenly.

"Twenty-seven."

"OK, so that means I'm right on time. This must be just before…"

"Just before what? Am I just going to keep asking you questions and you keep ignoring them?" Rhea asked.

"I'm an alien." He said.

"What?"

"Well, to you, I'm an alien, but really-"

"Is this a joke?" She asked, standing up abruptly.

"What? No!" He insisted.

"Let me guess. Someone put you up to this." She said, pacing around her living room.

"No one put me up to this. Please, Rhea, just listen to me." He moved around so that he was standing in front of her, and he prevented her from moving around him.

"Look, all you have to tell me is the truth." Rhea said, practically begging him with her eyes. She had to know who he was, whether he was dangerous, whether he was trying to hurt her.

"My name is the Doctor and I'm an alien. I'm a Time Lord."

Rhea rubbed her temples. "A Time Lord?" She asked.

"Yes."

"So, a bit full of yourself then. I suppose it practically comes with the title, if you go around calling yourself a Lord."

"Oi!" Then, he cracked a smile. "Just a bit. So, you believe me then?"

Rhea laughed. "Oh god no. I think you're insane."

His smile faltered and then his face turned serious and determined. He grabbed her hand, ignoring her protests, and pulled it up until it pressed against the left side of his chest. Rhea had just started to feel the rhythmic beating of his heart when he moved her hand to the opposite side of his chest. She froze when she heard the exact same beat coming from the right side of his chest.

"Oh." This was all she could manage to say.

"I have two hearts." He added, trying to be helpful.

She moved back and turned around so that her back was facing him. She ran her hands through her hair.

"That isn't possible." She said, referring to his two heartbeats. "It's a genetic quirk or something."

"No, it's a Time Lord thing."

"Then, it's a prank. You've got something underneath those clothes of yours that's making that noise." She growled and strode over to him until she was standing only a few inches away, and dragged her hands across his chest, feeling for a cassette or mp3 player or some similar device. After a minute she realised she was essentially groping him and hastily drew back her hands after she could find nothing that could logically explain why he had two heartbeats. She turned around and walked a few steps forward.

She let out a hoarse laugh. She turned back to face him. "So, alien, huh? And an English alien as well. But you look human." She said, gesturing to his body with her hand.

"Well, actually, you look Time Lord. My race is older than yours." He said, matter-of-factly, as if it were commonplace to be discussing the existence of aliens in someone's living room.

She sank back down onto the sofa. She felt as if she had just spent the last half-an-hour wandering in the short expanse of her living room.

This is real. This is actually happening

She isn't dreaming. Or hallucinating.

"Doctor." She said, for the first time in six hours addressing him by the name he had given her. "How do you know me?"

"I'm a time-traveller, Rhea. And so are you." He said, softly, coming to kneel in front of her, so that they were the same height.

She raised her head incredulously from where it had been buried in her knees. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He gave a sad smile. "Not yet, you won't."

A burst of confidence and anger spread through her exhausted body. She looked at him, so close to her, a mystery man who had just turned her entire world upside down. "Why are you looking at me like that? Just because you think you're someone I trust doesn't mean I automatically will. Why should I believe you?" She demanded.

He swallowed hard and leaned in.

He whispered something in her ear.

She paled.

He moved back until he was kneeling in the same position again.

When she started talking, she couldn't deal with anything more than a whisper. "How do you know that?"

"I am someone you trust. Implicitly."

She shook her head. "Trust has nothing to do with it. I trust a lot of people. I've never told anyone that. Not even my mother. How do you know?"

"You told me." She opened her mouth to argue. "You will tell me."

She let out a wrecked sob. "Oh dear. This is getting scary now."

He stood up. He took one of her hands and folded it in one of his larger ones.

"I want to show you something." He pulled her and dragged her behind him.

When they reached the door, she pulled her hand back sharply.

"Hey, wait a second, alien boy, I'm not going outside in a robe and shorts." She said, wrapping the tie of the robe around her waist even tighter.

He looked her over, as if he was just noticing what she was wearing for the first time.

"I'm gonna go change." She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the sofa. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down so that he was seated on the leather, and she smiled. "You, stay there." She pointed. "When I come back out of my bedroom, you better not have moved an inch."

She rushed back into her bedroom and grabbed a pain of black skinny jeans and a black spaghetti-strap sequined top with her black chunky ankle boots. She shoved the door of the adjoining bathroom closed behind her and made sure to lock it. She threw herself into the large shower and made sure she didn't take longer than five minutes. It wouldn't do to keep the man waiting.

When she strode back into the living room, it didn't surprise her to see the Doctor away from the couch and standing near her fireplace, staring at the photos on the mantle. The five that were sitting on the mantle were mostly ones with her and her parents. Two with her dad, the rest with her mom. A dance recital when she was seven, some New Years Eve party with friends, her high school graduation and her college graduation and one of her and her parents outside her mother's flower shop.

He turned back to look at Rhea. "You certainly took your time." He accused.

She glared at him. "I was gone max fifteen minutes!"

He wagged his finger. "Still too long."

"Well, I was thinking that if you are planning on kidnapping me, I might as well be dressed in something that makes me look sexy." She said, sarcastically.

A blush rose up his cheeks when he looked her up and down.

He walked back over to her and grabbed her hand again and pulled her out the door. They walked down the two flights of stairs and out the door of her apartment block, the doorman looking at them disapprovingly.

"Oh great." She sighed. "Now HE thinks we're sleeping together. I am never going to live this down."

He looked at her shocked. "Why would he think that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that a strange man comes into my apartment at three in the morning and I'm seen walking out of my apartment with said man the next morning!"

He pulled her down a side road until she saw a large blue box standing in the middle of the sidewalk. She watched his face light up when he caught sight of it as well and his strides got larger as he practically raced over to it.

When they stopped right outside it, she said: "Seriously, you dragged me from my apartment to come and see a big blue box?"

He looked insulted. "Oi! It is not just a big blue box." He opened the double doors by pushing them open and gestured with his hand inside. "Take a look."

From her angle, she couldn't quite see inside, so she laughed. "Tell you what, buy me dinner first and then I'll get in your blue box with you."

The infamous blush came running again. "Rhea, please!" He looked even more insulted than before, when she had insulted his box.

She laughed again. "What do you want me to say? You want me to go into a blue box with you that can barely hold one person. Honey, I don't put out that easily."

He sighed, exasperated. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her in. She was still laughing as he pulled her into the blue box until she realised what she was in.

Her lips parted but no words came out. Her eyes were wide and her hands were shaking. With terror or shock, she wasn't sure yet. This was impossible. The best word to explain the sight before her eyes. Impossible. But so was everything since a mystery man had knocked on her door seven hours ago.

"Well?" He asked, standing in front of what seemed to be a console in the middle of the gigantic room that defied every logical explanation that her mind was coming up with. "What do you think?"

She had the urge to rub her eyes or pinch her arm, just to make sure she wasn't hallucinating or dreaming. She walked forwards, down the stairs, slowly, uncertain of her movements. She spun around, her back to the Doctor, staring out of the doors she had just walked through. She had just walked through them. Double doors of a 1950s Police Box that had a console room that was bigger than her bedroom and her living room combined. She looked around; she could see ramps and staircases that led out of the console room, so she guessed that this box was a lot bigger than just the console room.

"I'm going to need alcohol. And lots of it." She managed to get out.

He looked shocked and delighted.

"How does that work?" She asked, swallowing hard. "How does a wooden box-"

"It's called the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space." He interrupted.

She sighed. "OK, how do you fit all of this-" She gestured to what was around her. "in a wooden box?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped closer to her. "Well….if I had to give the simplest explanation, it would be that, this room and anything else in the TARDIS is another dimension." He pouted. "You're not going to say that it's bigger on the inside."

She gave him a patronising look. "Honey, that's a bit obvious, isn't it?"

"Everyone says that it's bigger on the inside." He argued.

"Everyone?" She smirked. "Are all of them women? Do you make a habit of this, then?"

"Make a habit out of what?"

"Inviting women into your bigger-on-the-inside box." She said, smirking at the stunned look on the Doctor's face.

He rubbed the back of his neck. If he thought about it the way she was saying, then he supposed he did have quite a few companions that he invited along into his TARDIS. Quite a few of them were women too.

Someone yawned.

A young woman, pretty and probably around her early twenties, came up one of the ramps, dressed in a tank top and long pants and messy hair. Clearly she had been asleep and had just woken up.

"I rest my case." She said, gesturing to the woman and ignoring the pang inside her chest which suggested that she wasn't unique in that aspect.

The girl's eyes widened when she caught sight of Rhea. "Rhea!" She exclaimed, running around the council and up to her, throwing herself into Rhea's arms.

Rhea froze, unsure of what to do. She wasn't exactly used to random people enveloping her in hugs. She wrapped her arms around the girl, awkwardly, patting her on the back.

When she pulled back, Rhea sighed. "Oh great, another person who knows me but I don't know them."

The girl looked upset. "You don't know me?" She looked at the Doctor for confirmation.

The Doctor nodded. "This is the first time she's met me as well."

"So this is when she starts-" The girl began, but the Doctor shushed her.

"You can't tell her." The Doctor warned. "Spoilers."

"Spoilers?" Rhea asked, looking between the two. "Spoilers for what?"

The Doctor had a wry smile on his face. "Can't be told, Rhea. Has to be lived."

Rhea chewed on her lip. "Great, more secrets." She turned to the young girl. "So, what's your name?"

"Clara. Clara Oswald." Clara said, rocking back on her feet as she stared into Rhea's eyes, hoping for some recognition at least.

Rhea smiled sadly, understanding what Clara was looking for and sad that she was unable to give her that. "Clara. I like that name. Clara. It means clear, bright and famous in Latin."

Clara smiled slowly. Rhea thought she was pretty in a petite, doll-like way. Dark brown wavy hair that went just past her shoulders, soft brown eyes, round face.

"So, has he kidnapped you as well?" Rhea asked her, her hands coming to rest on the railing behind her.

"Kidnapped?" Clara asked, confused, looking at the Doctor.

Rhea nodded. "He knocked on my door at three in the morning. Half an hour later I got a massive headache and blacked out. I woke up to find myself in bed six hours later. Then he dragged me from my apartment, saying that he wanted to show me something." Rhea looked around, just one more time, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "I'm guessing he meant this gorgeous girl."

The Doctor and Clara smiled and looked at each other, as if sharing a private joke.

"Why would you call her 'girl'?" The Doctor asked, his hands moving about in the air.

Rhea frowned. "Isn't that what machines are referred to? My cousin calls his car 'Baby' and the Titanic was a 'she'…" She frowned again. "Why are you both grinning like idiots?"

"Nothing." The two said simultaneously.

Rhea noticed that the Doctor's hands were flapping about again. "Do you have an anxiety disorder? Constant fidgeting, especially with hands, is a symptom of anxiety problems."

The Doctor forced his hands back to his sides. "Are you psychoanalysing me?" Amusement played on his lips.

Rhea smirked. "Yeah, got a problem with that? It's kinda in the job title."

Clara smiled. "You're a psychologist."

"I'm a counselling psychologist." Rhea corrected. She frowned. She could tell that there was something else in that statement. She hated it when people kept secrets from her, especially when it was about her in the first place.

"Alright, is one of you going to spit it out?" She asked, glaring at the two and crossing her arms over her chest.

Clara and the Doctor looked confused. "What are you talking about, Rhea?" The Doctor asked, hesitatingly, stepping cautiously towards her.

"The two of you are keeping something from me." Rhea said, angrily, the stress and impossibility of the past seven hours coming and attacking her all at once in the form of annoyance. "It was bad enough with bow-tie boy," Rhea ignored the Doctor's sound of objection to the nickname. "Who was able to rattle off a gazillion facts about my life, but now Barbie doll," Rhea again ignored Clara's insulted "Oi!". "Also looks like she's sharing some private joke with you about me. Start talking, or I'll-"

She had no later begun the sentence when the intense pain that had forced her to black out a while ago returned. She clutched her head as a cry of pain escaped her lips and she grabbed the railing to help her stay on her feet. She could barely make out the Doctor and Clara rush over to her, each grabbing her by a hand to help steady her. The pain drew a sob out of her as it increasingly became unmanageable. She raised her head and opened her eyes to look at the Doctor's expressionless grey eyes.

"What's going on?" She managed to get out. She looked down at her hands and let out a shocked scream when she saw that they were glowing white.

"What's happening to me?" She asked, desperately looking at him, hoping that he could offer some sort of explanation.

The Doctor's lips parted. "Sorry. I'm so sorry, Rhea. I wish I had time to explain. You have to go now, Rhea."

"Go where?" She demanded.

"To me. A different me. He'll look different, but ask him to tell you everything I told you today. Everything about you that I know." He smiled. "Ask him what your favourite song is. It's a tie, right, between Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For a Hero. Ask him that, Rhea. He'll be a little older, and he'll be wearing a blue suit. He'll know who you are. Don't worry. You can trust him."

"What's happening to me?" Rhea sobbed.

The Doctor smiled slowly. "Nothing bad. You're just going to travel a bit."

Rhea shut her eyes tightly and gripped her head. The throbbing started to fade after a little while and she started to open her eyes. Someone wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to a chair, which she sat down on thankfully. She looked up into incredibly gorgeous brown eyes.

* * *

A/N: So there was the first chapter! I hope you all liked it! So review, but please don't be too harsh. This is my first Doctor Who fanfiction, and I am aware it may not be that good.


	2. Voyage of the Damned: Meteors

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: So, I don't actually own Doctor Who, yeah...wishful thinking.

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! They were wonderful and gave me the confidence needed to continue, so I hope you like the first proper chapter/episode that I've done. It'll be done in 2/3 parts, I'm not sure, but here it is: Voyage of the Damned!

* * *

Voyage of the Damned: Meteors

"Rhea, are you alright?" The man said, still keeping a hand on one of her shoulders, in case she decided to topple over again.

She rubbed her eyes to relieve the soreness and ran her hands through her hair, twisting them in her black waves, a habit she had picked up the last two years to combat stress or agitation.

She looked at the man who had steadied her. Blue suit and tie, beautiful brown eyes and amazing hair. Between this man and bow-tie boy, she didn't know how she was going to survive. Her cousin had given a name to hair like this man's. She called it Fuck-Me hair, Rhea remembered.

Blue suit. Her mystery man had mentioned a man with a blue suit. A different him. What did that mean? Did that mean that the man in front of her was her mystery man as well? He did know her name.

She remembered what the Doctor had told her while she was impersonating E.T.

"What's my favourite song?" Rhea demanded of the man, feeling sort of stupid by asking such an banal and pointless question.

He rubbed the back of his neck, his face turning thoughtful. "It's a tie between Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For a Hero. Oh, we could go to Led Zeppelin's last concert in…." He thought for a moment. "Brussels! 1980! How does 1980 sound?"

Rhea finally looked around at her surroundings. She was staring at what seemed to be a rustic version of the TARDIS she had been in before. It was all gold and beautiful and fairy-tale, the complete opposite of the techno theme she had seen before.

She swallowed hard. "Are you the Doctor?" She didn't know what answer she was expecting. She didn't know which answer she'd be happy with.

He turned back to her, looking her straight in the eye, having been fiddling with the controls on the console, setting the date to 20 June 1980. His eyes turned sad, the same puppy dog eyes Rhea's mystery man had when she hadn't recognised him. "Yes, yes, I am." He said, reluctantly, as if he didn't want to be answering the question. Not to her, at least

Rhea shook her head. "I just saw you. You looked completely different. You looked-"

The Doctor cut her off. "From what I can tell this is very early in your timeline, since you don't recognise me, am I correct? Have you met me before this?"

Rhea rubbed her forehead. "I just met you for the first time, before."

He pulled a monitor from underneath the console and pressed a few buttons. The monitor showed a slideshow of nine images of men, varying in age. An old man, a man with a flute, a man with a strange screwdriver, a man wearing a very colourful scarf, a man with celery strapped to his collar, a man with extremely bad fashion sense, a man holding an umbrella, a man who looked like a younger, sexier version of Alan Rickman, and the last picture depicted a man wearing a leather jacket with large ears and cropped hair.

"Was it one of these men?" He asked, hopefully.

Rhea shook her head.

"Then a future regeneration, I suppose." The man mused. He didn't know whether to be upset by that.

"Are you trying to tell me that all of those faces, you, the man I met, you're all the Doctor?" Rhea asked, incredulously. "Two hearts, bigger-on-the-inside box and a Lord of Time is one thing, but you can't honestly expect me to believe that you've changed your face eleven times!" Her voice was high-pitched and shaky towards the end of her sentence.

He sighed and leaned back against the console so that he was exactly opposite her.

"When Time Lords die, we have a sort of trick. We regenerate instead of dying." He tried to explain, his feet scuffing the floor.

"What does that mean? Regeneration?" She asked.

"There's a process, if I'm about to die, my body changes form. Every cell in my body gets changed and, as a result, I get a new face. Well, new everything." The Doctor explained, shuffling his feet.

"So, if you're the Doctor - and I'm still not believing that just yet - what happened to me?" Rhea asked, nervously. "You said a future regeneration. Did I come here from the future?"

He sighed. "Rhea, well, you were shot through time and space. You've never actually told me the reason why, well you have, but I can't tell you the reason, timelines and knowledge of the future and all that. The simplest explanation that I can give you now is probably that your timeline criss-crosses and twists around mine in a really wibbly-wobbly way." The Doctor said and then paused. "Wibbly-wobbly way, I should say that more often."

Rhea buried her face in her hands. "Is that how you know me? Because I've only met you once before this and you said you've known me all your life. Does that mean I'm just going to be shot through time and space and meet up with you randomly?"

She took the Doctor's silence for his assent and for a split second, felt like crying.

"What about my mother?" She asked, suddenly scared and worried. "Will I ever be able to see her again?"

The Doctor moved closer to her and sat next to her on the captain's chair. He held one of her hands in his larger ones and squeezed. "I am so sorry, Rhea." That was the only platitude he could offer her.

A sob escaped her without warning. "Oh god, my life!" She wailed. "Why is this happening now of all times?" Her voice lowered. "I was just starting to get better."

He squeezed her hand again. "I know it's hard to deal with. But Rhea, I promise, we do have good times. We've had great times. You and the TARDIS have been the constants in my life and I've had a long one."

She sniffled, picking up on the last thing he said. "What do you mean 'a long one'? You couldn't be more than five years older than I am!"

A laugh escaped his lips. "I'm 903, Rhea, I'd say that's more than five years."

Her eyes widened and shocked sound escaped her mouth. "You're kidding me. You've got to be kidding me." She groaned and buried her face in her hands again. "There's only so much more of this I can take."

She turned to look at him, properly, this time. Really good hair, like really amazing hair, dark brown eyes, skinny and a pinstripe suit, she filed this Doctor away in her mind. If he was telling the truth and she couldn't understand why someone would go to this much trouble just to prank her, then she guessed she'd be meeting this man quite a few times. She saw the nine faces on the monitor, the one next to her and bow-tie boy and knew she had to remember what each of them looked like so that she wouldn't get confused when she met them out of the blue.

"903, huh?" She pursed her lips, trying to lighten her voice. "You look good for your age." She said, eyeing him appreciatively.

Instead of the blush that had graced bow-tie boy, this Doctor was smirking, which made him look even sexier. If that were even possible. She didn't normally go for the science geek type, but this one, his future self and the fourth, eighth and ninth photos she had seen on the monitor, she could see her usual type changing quickly.

"So, is this really a time machine?" Rhea asked, having a proper look around. The ship was beautiful. As if she could read her thoughts, the ship hummed as if thanking her for the compliment.

"Whoa!" Rhea exclaimed, feeling the vibrations. "What was that?"

"The TARDIS. She's sentient but she can't speak, so she communicates like that. She likes you. Trust me, it's a good thing." The Doctor said from the opposite side of the console. "The TARDIS can travel anywhere in time and space." He said, beaming, looking like a little boy on Christmas extremely proud of a snowman.

Unbeknownst to herself, she grinned along with him. The Doctor bounded around the console and came back to sit beside her. "So, where would you like to go? Anywhere in time and space…within reason, but reason doesn't always have to be reasonable, so where do you want to go?"

Suddenly, a fog horn sounded and Rhea shrieked at the unexpected noise. A ship's bow crashed through the side of the TARDIS and both the Doctor and Rhea were knocked off the captain's chair and onto the floor. Rhea desperately grabbed the console as she was thrown down and steadied herself but the Doctor fell to the ground, landing on his back.

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed, coughing, his face twisting into an expression of absolute bewilderment. "What?"

He quickly rose and steadied Rhea. "Are you okay?" He asked, hurriedly.

The sound of a ship's bell was heard and the Doctor and Rhea moved closer, the Doctor picking up a life preserver that had the name 'Titanic' painted across it.

"What!" The Doctor exclaimed again. That word seemed to be the only thing he could say.

"Does this always happen to you?" Rhea asked, hoarsely, winded after being thrown against the console, so soon after being transported back in time with a blinding headache.

"The Titanic doesn't crash into the TARDIS on a regular basis, no." The Doctor said, holding her forearm tightly, so that she wouldn't fall even if her knees didn't buckle.

The Doctor let go of her arm and moved to the console. Using various controls on the console, he was able to reform the walls of the TARDIS, pushing the ship outside. He flicked a few switches and was able to move the TARDIS so that she could land inside the Titanic instead of becoming the iceberg.

The Doctor stepped out of the box, Rhea close behind him, and looked around, realising that they were in a supply closet. At least there was no one around. He closed the doors behind him once Rhea was outside, wiped his hands together and stepped out of the closet. They walked out into a wood-panelled room decorated obviously for Christmas. The people, who walked around them, drinking champagne and scotch and happily chatting the night away, were dressed in early 20th century clothing; at least that's what Rhea thought from her knowledge of Titanic and late nights of Downton Abbey. Suddenly, she felt severely underdressed, dressed in jeans and a sequined top and heels. The band played a slower, more mellowed version of 'Jingle Bells'. The Doctor approached two angels made of gold, dressed in white, gripping one of Rhea's hands tight in his own. Rhea was stunned as the angels moved jerkily and realised that they were robots and not just tacky Christmas decorations as she originally thought. She noticed a small red-skinned and swallowed hard as her mind came to terms with that. She had previously ignored the 'alien' bit with the Doctor since he looked so similar to a human. She looked over to the Doctor to see him frowning at the red man. She clutched onto his hand tighter as they wandered to a nearby window and looked out.

"Right." The Doctor drew out as he stared out of the window.

Rhea blinked just to make sure she was seeing what was in front of her.

"Attention all passengers. The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol Three, also known as Earth. Population, Human." A man said over the speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."

Rhea could see the entire Earth below them, as if in a movie, all blue and white and massive and amazing. She never thought she'd see a sight like this. Be a part of something so big and special. Sunehri Adwani, a run of the mill psychologist from San Francisco.

"So, a spaceship named after the Titanic and not the real Titanic then." Rhea murmured to the Doctor.

He nodded. "Seems so."

Rhea looked down at herself and back at the others who were mingling. "I think we're going to need a change of clothes."

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea stood in front of a frame, which was depicting a video of a bald man with a thin mustache sitting behind a desk. They had just returned back from the TARDIS, where the Doctor had shown Rhea the wardrobe, which had to be larger than Macy's and Bloomingdale's combined. She had marvelled at the room that seemed to take up an endless width and an excessive number of floors, filled with racks upon racks of clothes, all from different eras and different planets. She had just stood there staring until the Doctor had given her a choice. She could either stay and explore the wardrobe of the TARDIS or she could explore a spaceship hovering over Earth called the Titanic. Needless to say, she had chosen the Titanic.

She had changed into a skin-tight black dress, with golden straps extending from the top of the dress to wrap around her neck, that came to the middle of thighs with tall, black strappy heels. She had left her waist-length black hair pinned at the back with a jewelled comb she had found in the wardrobe. When she had walked out, she saw the Doctor dressed in a sharp dinner jacket and bow-tie, and she approved. Really approved. At first he had looked stunned at her appearance and his jaw had dropped but Rhea, brimming with sudden confidence and sultriness, simply walked over to him, placed a finger under his jaw and pushed up, giving him a sly smile.

"Let me close that for you." She purred. "You'll catch flies."

At her smile, he started to smile as well and offered her his arm, which she happily took, and he led her back into the spaceship.

"Max Capricorn Cruiseliners - the fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max." He grinned, his gold tooth becoming prominent in the frame.

Rhea grimaced. "You know, I really hate those things. It just makes teeth look cheap." She muttered.

The Doctor kept fiddling with his tie until Rhea smacked his hands away and straightened it herself. "Stop it." She said. "I think it looks good on you." At the Doctor's smug smile, she hastily finished. "In a Dr Seuss kind of way."

Ignoring the Doctor's offended look, she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him away from the creepy bald man in the talking photo frame. They walked towards the reception as 'Winter Wonderland' began to play, passing a steward who wished them "Merry Christmas, sir, ma'am."

"Merry Christmas." Both the Doctor and Rhea returned the greeting.

They walked back into the ballroom, in which they had entered the ship, passing by a man with black, slicked back hair in a sharp tuxedo, who was talking on some sort of phone. Or some alien communication device, Rhea pondered.

"It's not a holiday for me, not while I've still got my vone. Now do as I say and sell." They heard him saying into the device.

Rhea snorted. "Well, he's certainly got the Christmas spirit, don't ya think?"

They approached one of the robotic angels, which Rhea still found a bit creepy. The eyes looked empty, devoid of anything, it made her feel uneasy.

"Evening. Passenger 57. Terrible memory. Remind me. Uh, you would be..." The Doctor asked.

"Information: Heavenly Host supplying tourist information." The Host replied.

"Good, so, um..." He paused. "Tell me - cause I'm an idiot - where are we from?" Rhea smiled, he looked like such a dork that it was endearing.

"Information. The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

Rhea was immediately insulted. "Hey, who are you calling primitive, you-" Rhea began to ask, angrily.

The Doctor interrupted her before Rhea could start chewing the robot out. "Titanic. Um...who... thought of the name?

"Information. It was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth."

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all." Rhea muttered, looking around the room, but unable to find anything out of the ordinary with a first glance, just people partying.

The Doctor seemed to share her opinion. "Did they tell you why it was famous?"

"Information. All designations are chosen by Mister Max Capricorn, president of Max…Max…Max…"

The Host started twitching and repeating the name while its voice pitch rose. The steward noticed and hurried over.

"Ooh, bit of a glitch." The Doctor said, reaching into his pockets to pull out his sonic screwdriver. However, the steward reached them before he could do so.

"It's all right, sir, we can handle this." The steward said, motioning for two others to assist him. Two more stewards came to them and switched off the Host before taking it away.

"Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, sir, ma'am. Merry Christmas." The steward said to the Doctor and Rhea before following the other stewards. "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?" He muttered to himself.

Rhea watched as the man who was talking into his communications device bumped into a petite blonde waitress, making her drop her tray of drinks.

"For Tov's sake, look where you're going! This jacket's a genuine Earth antique." The man exclaimed.

Rhea grimaced, feeling bad for the girl's plight and angry at the man for placing the blame on the waitress. He had bumped into her, not the other way around.

"I'm sorry, sir." The waitress murmured. She got down on her knees to pick up the broken glass with bare hands.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart. Staffed by idiots. No wonder Max Capricorn is going down the drain." He said before storming off.

Rhea glared at the back of his head before walking over to the waitress to help her, the Doctor coming up behind her.

"Be careful, you're not wearing gloves." Rhea warned as she knelt down beside the waitress, the Doctor also stooping down to help.

"There we go." The Doctor said, placing the last of the broken glass on the tray.

The waitress smiled at them. "Thank you, ma'am, sir. I can manage."

Rhea smirked. "No one said you couldn't."

"I'm the Doctor, by the way, and this is Rhea." The Doctor introduced.

"Astrid, sir. Astrid Peth." She said.

Rhea and the Doctor grinned. "Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth. Merry Christmas." The Doctor said.

Astrid looked surprised, but then smiled. "Merry Christmas, sir, ma'am."

Rhea grimaced. "Please don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel at least ten years older than I already am. It's just Rhea."

"And it's just the Doctor, not 'sir'." The Doctor added.

Rhea nudged him in the stomach with her elbow. "Yeah, cause that doesn't sound pompous at all."

The Doctor grinned back at her.

"You two enjoying the cruise?" Astrid asked, smiling when she saw how the two interacted.

Rhea and the Doctor looked at each other. "Um...Yeah, I suppose. I don't know. We just sort of stumbled upon it, to be honest."

Astrid stood up and the Doctor and Rhea followed her. "Is it just the two of you?"

Rhea missed the smile that the Doctor gave her. "Yeah, just the two of us now." He said, ignoring Rhea's questioning look. "What about you? Long way from home, Planet Sto." He said, turning the attention back on Astrid.

"Doesn't feel that different. I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here...and I'm still waiting on tables."

Astrid turned to walk away and the Doctor and Rhea followed her.

"No leave?" Rhea asked, frowning. It was Christmas.

Astrid shook her head, cleaning one of the tables near the window. "We're not allowed." She muttered. "They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading out to the stars and I always dreamt of…it sounds daft."

"You dreamt of another sky. New sun, new air, new life. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there is all that life out there?" The Doctor added knowingly, something changing in his eyes.

Rhea smiled sadly. She would have loved to travel. Especially after high school had finished. When she was younger, she had planned all sorts of trips all over the world with her parents. After her father died, the enthusiasm to visit new places had slowly died away and had been replaced with responsibility. A responsibility to keep her mother happy and free from worry, for her father. She had got caught up in school and work and then Damian and travel hadn't entered her mind since. Maybe now she would get a chance. It wasn't exactly the way she had imagined it, but millions of people could say they had been to Egypt, how many could say they had been on a spaceship hovering over the Earth?

"So, you travel a lot?" Astrid asked.

"All the time. Just for fun. Well, that's the plan. Never quite works." The Doctor said, grinning. Rhea shook her head; she didn't want to know what this man got up to while travelling, but she supposed she'd find out soon.

"Must be rich, though."

"Well, she is." The Doctor said, pointing at Rhea, who snorted. "But me, haven't got a penny." Then, the Doctor leaned in, as if sharing some great big secret. "Stowaway." He whispered, pointing at himself and Rhea.

Astrid looked shocked. "Kidding."

Rhea bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Seriously." The Doctor said.

"No!" Astrid exclaimed, about to laugh, showing her gleaming white teeth, unable to even consider the possibility.

Rhea smiled. "Oh, yeah."

Astrid looked at them both. "How did you get on board?"

"Accident. I've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her. Left the defences down, bumped into the Titanic. Here I am. Bit of a party, I thought 'Why not?'" The Doctor said, trying to explain, leaving the parts out where Rhea had appeared in a bright white light, clutching onto the TARDIS console, in the midst of a headache.

Astrid looked back at the people, at one of the stewards, then back at Rhea and the Doctor. "I should report you."

"Go on then." The Doctor said, barely holding back a smile.

Astrid looked back. "I'll get you both a drink." She leaned in. "On the house." She whispered, conspiratorially.

The Doctor and Rhea looked at each other, grinning.

"Oh, look at you, you, charmer, you. Dazzling the waitresses to get free drinks. Shame on you!" Rhea whispered to the Doctor.

He nudged her in the stomach like she had done before and they smiled at each other.

They watched Astrid walk past a group of first-class passengers who were laughing and pointing at a heavyset couple, who were dressed in purple, country-western outfits sitting and eating.

The Doctor and Rhea joined their table, sitting opposite them.

"Just ignore 'em." The man said to his wife.

"Something's tickled them." The Doctor commented.

"They told us it was fancy dress. Very funny, I'm sure." The woman said.

"They're just pickin' on us because we haven't paid. We won our tickets in a competition." The man said, pointing at his wife.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Rhea said, pouring herself a glass of champagne and taking a sip. She asked the Doctor if he wanted one as well, but he shook his head. "I once won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas in a competition on the radio. I didn't go, but I won it."

The woman grinned at her. "I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in By the Light of the Asteroid. Did you ever watch By the Light of the Asteroid?" She asked.

Rhea's face was absolutely blank, but the Doctor scrunched up his face, as if thinking long and hard. "Is that the one with the twins?" He asked. Rhea looked at him strangely; she would never have guessed that the bouncy alien would be into soap operas.

"That's it. Oh, it's marvellous." The woman said.

"But we're not good enough for that lot. They think we should be in steerage." The man said, pointing back at the other table, and the Doctor and Rhea looked back at the other table.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" The Doctor pulled something sleek and long out of his pocket and held it under his arm, pointing the glowing blue end at the other table. Seconds later, the champagne on the other table popped its cork, spraying the liquid all over the table and the clothes of those on that table.

Rhea stared at the device in his hand. "What is that?" She whispered.

"Sonic screwdriver." He said, winking at her.

"Did…did you do that?" The woman asked, shocked.

The Doctor had the same smile on his face that little boys did when they got up to some mischief but didn't want to admit to it. "Maybe." He said, slyly, putting the screwdriver away. Rhea grinned. Oh, she was going to have so much fun with this man.

The man and the woman started giggling madly. "We like you." The woman said.

"We do." The man said, reaching out a hand to the Doctor. "I'm Morvin van Hoff." He said, shaking the Doctor's hand and then Rhea's. "This is my good woman, Foon."

The Doctor shook Foon's hand and Rhea followed his action. "Foon. Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is my good woman, Rhea."

Rhea raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him.

"Your good woman?" She asked, under her breath. "Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, alien boy?"

He grinned at her. "Do you mind?"

She grinned back and shook her head. "Nup."

"Ooh, I'm gonna need a Doctor by the time I'm finished with this buffet. Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo, so many wings." Foon said.

The Doctor took a wing but Rhea refused. "Vegetarian, sorry." She said, holding up her hands, palms facing them.

There was a high-pitched noise and a voice came on the speaker. "Attention please. Shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated. Red 6-7."

Foon took out her ticket. "Red 6-7. That's us." She said, standing. "Are you Red 6-7?" She asked the Doctor and Rhea.

Rhea shrugged and the Doctor smiled. "Might as well be."

"Come on." Morvin said, wrapping an arm around Food. "We're going to Earth."

The Doctor offered Rhea his arm and they walked over to an older man, slightly balding, dressed in a tweed suit, holding up a sign bearing 'Red 6-7'.

"Red 6-7. Red 6-7. This way, fast as you can!" The man shouted.

The Van Hoffs rushed ahead of them and they followed. Astrid approached them, carrying a silver plate with two drinks on it.

"I got you that drink." Astrid said, holding out the plate.

"And we got you a treat. Come on." The Doctor said, taking the tray from her and placing it on a nearby table. Rhea linked her arms with Astrid and dragged her to where the old man was, the Doctor following behind them.

"Red 6-7 departing shortly!" The older man shouted.

The Doctor held up a wallet with a slip of paper inside. "Red 6-7 plus two."

Rhea gestured to the wallet. "What is that?"

"Psychic paper. It shows people what I want them to see. I wanted him to see Red 6-7 tickets and voila! Oh, voila, I must say that more often." The Doctor said.

Rhea exhaled. "OK, psychic paper, a spaceship called the Titanic and a sonic screwdriver. A bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm still standing. Oh, that's a nice song."

"You alright?" The Doctor asked, worriedly.

She gave him a tight smile. "Give me some time to get used to all of this and I'll be dynamite."

The older man was taken aback after the Doctor showed him the psychic paper. "Uh, quickly, sir, and please take three teleport bracelets if you would."

"I'll get the sack." Astrid whispered to them both. Rhea and Astrid both put on a bracelet each and Rhea marvelled as it glowed dark blue once clasped.

The Doctor handed her a bracelet. "Brand new sky." The Doctor said, slowly and softly, as if hypnotising her.

"Take the road less travelled by." Rhea said, winking at Astrid.

"To repeat, I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of U.K. ruled over by good King Wenceslas." Rhea looked at the Doctor in bemusement. "Now human beings worshipped the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve the people of U.K. go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner... like savages."

Rhea opened her mouth to refute everything the man said, and most likely in a rude way, but the Doctor beat her to it. "Excuse me, sorry, sorry, but, um...where did you get all this from?" The Doctor asked, as confused and shocked as Rhea was.

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics. Now, stand by."

Suddenly, the red-skinned alien ran up to them.

"And me! And me! Red 6-7." The alien said in a high pitch voice, out of breath.

"Well, take a bracelet, sir?" Mr Copper said.

"Uh, but, um, hold on, hold on. What was your name?" The Doctor interjected.

"Bannakaffalatta." The alien said. Rhea blinked twice when she heard the difficult poly-syllabic name.

"OK, Bannakaffalatta." The Doctor said, placing emphasis on the first syllable. "But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late-night shopping, tons of people. He's like a walking conker."

"Yeah, and in London, the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and families and parties…" Rhea added.

"No offense, but you'll cause a riot, because…" They were teleported onto a deserted street in the middle of London. "Oh…" The Doctor said, looking around.

"Now, spending money. I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to by trinkets, or stockings, or the local delicacy, which is known as beef. But don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing."

Rhea rolled her eyes, but couldn't understand why the street would be empty on Christmas Eve. This was the time that families got out of the house and went gallivanting across the city. There should be plenty of people around. There was no way London could be a ghost town on Christmas Eve.

"Very good." Bannakaffalatta said.

"It should be full. It should be busy. Something's wrong." The Doctor said, echoing Rhea's thoughts.

"But, it's beautiful." Astrid said, the awe clear in her voice.

"Really? Do you think so? It's just a street. The pyramids are beautiful, and New Zealand..." The Doctor said, wistfully.

"But it's a different planet. I'm standing on a different planet. Th-there's concrete...and shops, alien shops, real alien shops! Look, no stars in the sky. And it smells. It stinks!" Astrid gasped, laughing and jumping up and down. Both Rhea and the Doctor smiled at her enthusiasm, and were slightly surprised when Astrid jumped up and gave them both a tight hug.

"This is amazing! Thank you!"

"Yeah? Come on then, let's have a look." The Doctor said, linking his hands with both Rhea and Astrid and dragging them along.

They crossed the street to a newsagent's booth where an old man, bundled up in winter clothes, sat inside.

"Hello there! Sorry, uh, obvious question, but where's everybody gone?" The Doctor asked.

The old man laughed. "Oh-ho, scared!"

"Right, yes." The Doctor said, turning around then back again. "Scared of what?"

"Where have you been living? London at Christmas? Not safe, is it?" The old man said.

Rhea frowned. "Why would London not be safe at Christmas? What happened here?" She muttered to the Doctor.

"Why?" The Doctor asked the old man.

"Well, it's them, up above." The old man said, pointing upwards. "Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof." He pointed at his small TV that showed a clip of a massive spaceship hovering above London. "And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames."

"Do I even want to know?" Rhea asked the Doctor, suspiciously wondering whether he had something do with all of that.

He squeezed her hand. "You'll find out yourself. Spoilers."

Rhea grimaced but was diverted by Astrid's continued eagerness. "This is place is amazing!" Astrid gushed.

"And this year, Lord knows what. So everybody's scarpered, gone to the country. All except me...and Her Majesty." The old man said, standing and pointing proudly at the television set.

They could hear the reporter on the television. "Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she'll be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear."

"Nothing to fear?" Rhea asked.

"God bless her. We stand vigil." The old man said, saluting.

"Well, between you and me, I think her Majesty's got it right. Far as I know, this year, nothing to worry about-" The Doctor was saying before the three of them were teleported back to the ship.

"I was in mid-sentence." The Doctor said, annoyed. Rhea rubbed his arm in a show of comfort.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets-" Mr Copper stuttered, taking the teleportation bracelets from all of them.

The steward rushed up to the group. "Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, we seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided." Once he had finished, everyone except for the Doctor, Rhea and Astrid departed.

"That was the best, the best!" Astrid whispered to the Doctor and Rhea, before leaving, barely holding back her joy.

The Doctor approached the chief steward, dragging Rhea along with him.

"What sort of power fluctuation?" He asked the steward.

"Just a minor glitch. Nothing to worry about, sir." The steward said, tightly, before walking away.

The Doctor turned to look at the people on the dance floor. He held out a hand out to her, "Would you like to dance?" He offered, glancing back at the couples on the dance floor again. "It's just a lot of swaying, I can manage that, I think."

Rhea felt a smile form on her face. "You dance?" She asked, grinning wide and showing her teeth. "I thought you'd be one of those guys who were allergic to dancing, to be honest."

"We-ell," He drew out. "I don't normally, but for you, I'd make an exception."

She waggled her eyebrows. "An exception, huh?" She took him by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor. She wrapped his hands around her waist and wrapped her hands around his neck, leaving around a foot in between them.

They swayed, not in time to the music, much slower than the fast paced Christmas song being sung by a woman in a tight-fit black dress and a flower in her hair at the front of the ballroom.

"So, a nice first space adventure then?" The Doctor asked her.

She clicked her tongue. "We-ell, on a cruise on spaceship on Christmas Eve with a handsome man in a tux…it could be worse." She said, sticking her tongue out of the side of her teeth, as she smiled.

The Doctor had a smug, pleased look on his face, registering only that part of the sentence. "Handsome, huh?"

Rhea nodded, seriously. "In an alien, James Bond kind of way."

"So, alright then? Not getting too scared by the spaceship and the fact that you won't stand still in time for very long?" The Doctor asked, wondering exactly how she was feeling about all that had happened.

Rhea sighed. "Well, it's hard, of course. I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I won't see my mother for the foreseeable future. That's the hardest thing about this. But, I suppose, if I get to meet up with you and have fantastical adventures, then it's not so bad." She said to the Doctor, wrapping her hands just a bit tighter around his neck, pulling her closer.

"Yeah?" He asked, softly.

Rhea bit her lip. "Why do you look at me like that?" She asked him, needing to ask the question, staring into his brown, brown eyes.

The Doctor frowned. "Like what?"

"Like you know something that you're not supposed to tell me but you desperately want to. Like you're expecting something from me and you're disappointed when I don't give it to you." She exhaled. "No one has ever looked at me the way you're looking at me now." She murmured.

They were silent. They just stared at each other, either of them not willing to speak another word, both desperate for completely different things. Him, for some emotion, her, for some truth.

Rhea swallowed hard and turned away. Staring at him for too long could be dangerous. Not physically, but definitely emotionally. And that was bad. Really bad. She could feel herself being pulled in and resolved to hold tighter onto something that would push her away from him. Like memories or responsibility. _Don't you dare, Rhea. He's not good for you._ She thought.

"The song's really nice." Rhea said, attempting to lighten the sober mood that had befallen them. "Nice lyrics. A good Christmas song."

She looked around, smiling as she watched the Van Hoffs eating at their table and Morvin fed Foon a spoon of some chocolaty dessert. She noticed, with a frown, that the steward was eyeing one of the Hosts with worry. She could see the pompous man with the black-slicked hair had just won a round of roulette. Bannakaffalatta was dancing and both the Doctor and Rhea caught Astrid's eye as she was serving drinks, with the blonde girl giving them both a soft smile.

Rhea removed her hands from the Doctor's neck and his hands fell to his side from her waist and they walked over to another framed screen showing a video loop of Max Capricorn, their fingers entwining as they walked, Rhea thinking nothing of it.

"...and I should know because my name is Max. The fastest, the furthest, the best. My name is Max. " They heard him say.

The Doctor pulled a pair of glasses and his sonic screwdriver and put the glasses on. Rhea blinked. She never would have guessed how sexy a guy could look with glasses on. But the Doctor pulled it off. Really well.

"So, what exactly is a sonic screwdriver?" Rhea asked, one side leaning against the wall.

"It's a screwdriver that's sonic." He said, never looking away from the frame, which he unfastened using said screwdriver.

"Really!" Rhea exclaimed, in fake shock. "I never would have guessed. With that name, who could have guessed that it would be sonic? Idiot." She muttered in the end.

He grinned at her. "See, this is why I've missed you."

Rhea smiled back, her eyebrows scrunching up as she tried to decipher what he meant by that.

The Doctor opened the frame and changed some settings until the image on the screen changed to the ship's current status and her immediate surroundings. They both saw that the shields were offline.

"That's bad, right?" Rhea whispered to the Doctor.

She followed as he moved over to the window and they could see three meteors headed directly for the Titanic.

"Well, is this ironic, or what?" Rhea muttered, slightly afraid. "The Titanic goes up in flames." She turned to the Doctor. "We need to warn them."

At his nod, they searched for something that would allow them to communicate with the bridge. They rushed over to a nearby intercom and the Doctor pressed a button and started speaking quickly.

"Is that the bridge? I need to talk to the captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in West 0 by North 2."

"Who is this?" They heard what seemed to be the captain saying.

"Never mind that. Your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding!"

"You have no authorisation. You will clear the comms at once" The Captain said.

"Seriously, your ship is about to go up in flames, killing hundreds of people, and you're worrying about authorisation?" Rhea asked, angrily.

"Just look starboard!" The Doctor shouted into the comm, as he stared out of the window.

Two stewards came up behind them. "Come with me, sir, ma'am." One of them said. He grabbed the Doctor by an arm and attempted to grab Rhea's as well before she fixed him with a warning glare.

"Put your hands on me and you won't have them anymore, got it?" She said, slowly, but filled with promise.

The steward just escorted the Doctor off the deck, with Rhea following right behind him.

"You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down." The Doctor argued through gritted teeth as he was pulled along.

Suddenly, he twisted out of the stewards' grips and ran off, rushing up onto the stage and shouting into the microphone. "Everyone, listen to me! This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb-"

A Host covered the Doctor's mouth with its hand and pulled him away. The stewards stared at Rhea, ready to act in case she would try something similar to the Doctor, but she just followed as he was taken away.

"Look out of the goddamn windows!" Rhea shouted at the stewards as she stared warily at the stewards. She could get the Doctor out of their grip, no problem, but she was a little more worried about the meteor storm.

Astrid, the Van Hoffs, Mr Copper and Bannakaffalatta followed the two of them.

"If you don't believe me, check the shields yourself!" The Doctor shouted as he was dragged away into the maintenance corridors.

"Sir, I can vouch for them!" Astrid exclaimed as she came up beside them.

"Them friends." Bannakaffalatta agreed.

"Look, Steward, he's just had a bit too much to drink." Morvin tried to make the steward understand.

"Sir, something seems to have gone wrong. All the teleports have gone down." Mr Copper said to the steward.

"Not now!" The steward shouted, glaring at Mr Copper.

"The shields are down. We're going to get hit!" The Doctor still tried to make them understand.

The black-haired man came up to them. " Oi! Steward! I'm telling you, the shields are down!"

"Just listen to him." Rhea begged, speaking in a softer voice, in case the Doctor's way wasn't working.

Suddenly, the meteoroids struck the side of the ship, causing the entire ship to shake violently. The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rhea, protectively, and she grabbed Astrid, pulling the girl to her chest as they were all thrown to the floor.

* * *

A/N: So, I hope you liked the Doctor's interaction with Rhea in this chapter. It's obvious he knows something about their relationship that he's not telling her and she really hates it when people keep secrets from her. They won't be getting together really soon because she's not at that place where she unconditionally trusts the Doctor. It'll take a few adventures, with 9, 10, 11, for her to trust him. I chose Voyage of the Damned to start off because I feel The Runaway Bride or Smith and Jones have been done quite a few times. I wanted an episode where the Doctor didn't have an established companion yet, so I picked VOTD.

So, read and review!


	3. Voyage of the Damned: The Ship of Dreams

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Doctor Who doesn't belong to be, unfortunately. However, Rhea Adwani does.

A/N: OK, so people asked me whether I plan on doing Classic Who. I'm not very familiar with it just yet, but in the future I do plan to, or at least try. The Doctor mentioned to Rhea that he has known her all his life, so she will be making appearances in his early years, but for the near future, it will only be the 9th to the 11th Doctors with Rhea, because I'm most familiar with them.

Warning: Use of a swear word in this chapter.

* * *

Voyage of the Damned: The Ship of Dreams

_Suddenly, the meteoroids struck the side of the ship, causing the entire ship to shake violently. The Doctor wrapped his arms around Rhea, protectively, and she grabbed Astrid, pulling the girl to her chest as they were all thrown to the floor._

Sparks flew around them as pipes and walls were broken by the impact. Bits of rock soared across the room and the corridor exploded in fire as everyone desperately tried to hang onto a bar or a wall that would keep them steady as the ship shook dramatically. The air was clouded with smoke and fire and flying debris and the Doctor kept a tight hold on Rhea and Astrid as they were thrown from side of the corridor to another.

They were knocked to the floor by another explosion, the Doctor covering Rhea and Astrid with his body. Rhea watched as the tremors ceased and the Doctor pushed himself up, his mouth open in exertion. They were all still on the floor, whimpering, as the Doctor got to his feet, yanked Rhea up, pulling her close to his body, and walked a few steps.

"Shush, it's stopping." The Doctor whispered, raising a finger in the air. He looked down at Rhea, visibly shaken, her hair out of the comb and messily flying about her face, a small cut on her forehead. "You all right?" He asked, softly, pushing a curl out of her face and behind her ear.

"Yeah." She whispered, turned around in his hold and slowly stepping towards Astrid. She grabbed the girl by both her arms and pulled her up as well.

"You okay?" She asked Astrid.

"I think so." Astrid said, breathily.

"Bad name for a ship. Either that or this suit is really unlucky." The Doctor said.

"Personally, I think it's the guy in the suit, but what do I know?" Rhea muttered. "What smart person names a ship after the freaking Titanic?"

The Doctor knelt down to examine one of the stewards, lying face down near the wall, unmoving, and shook his head. Rhea swallowed hard as she realised the man was dead.

"Ev-everyone... Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small collision." The steward said, trying to keep the peace, while the Doctor found a comm, where Max Capricorn's voice kept repeating "My name is Max."

"Small?" Morvin asked, indignant.

"You know how much I paid for my ticket?" The black-haired man shouted, approaching the steward.

"If I could have silence, ladies, gentlemen..." The steward started, attempting to settle them down.

The voices of the passengers simply drowned out his words.

"Quiet!" The steward yelled and everyone stopped shouting. "Thank you. I-I'm sure Max Capricorn Cruiseliners will be able to reimburse you for any inconvenience. But first I would point out that we are very much alive."

Rhea noticed a cut on Mr Copper's forehead and rushed over to him. She helped him dab the cut with his handkerchief, the Doctor rushing over to them to examine the cut himself.

"She is, after all, a fine, sturdy ship. If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the-the situation." The steward said and went to open a hatch on the wall.

"Don't open it!" Rhea and the Doctor yelled.

The hatch opened and the steward was sucked into space by the vacuum. Everyone grabbed hold of any piping on the walls or on the ceiling near them. Rhea shrieked, grabbing the pipe on the ceiling, swinging desperately as the suction pulled her. She watched as the Doctor struggled, grabbing and jumping from one thing or another so that he could get over to the comms. He was able to use the sonic screwdriver on the computer to replace the shield before everyone else was sucked out as well.

"Oxygen shield stabilized." They heard the computerized voice say.

"Everyone all right? Rhea?" The Doctor called out.

"I'm fine!" Rhea called back, panting when she let go of the pipe.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah." Astrid said, gripping her chest.

"Foon? Morvin? Mr Copper? Bannakaffalatta?"

"Yes." Bannakaffalatta said.

"You, what was your name?" The Doctor asked the black-haired man.

"Ah, Rickston Slade." He replied.

"You all right?"

"No thanks to that idiot." Slade snorted.

Rhea watched as Astrid swelled with anger. "The steward just died." Astrid said through gritted teeth.

"Then he's a dead idiot." Slade said, arrogantly.

Astrid gasped and made for Slade before Rhea pulled her back, keeping her arms wrapped around the girl's waist, just in case she decided to lunge.

"All right, calm down. Just stay still, all of you. Hold on." The Doctor said.

He walked over to the hatch opening. Rhea made sure Astrid wasn't about to attack Slade before following him over to the window. They watched what was left of the ship floating out across into space, the debris from the ship and the bodies that had fallen into the vacuum.

Astrid joined them both. "What happened? How come the shields were down?"

"I don't think it was an accident." The Doctor murmured.

Rhea clicked her tongue. "You mean sabotage."

The Doctor gave her a look. A look that said she had hit the nail right on the head.

"How many dead?" Astrid whispered, horrified.

"We're alive, just focus on that. We will get you out of here, Astrid. I promise. Look at me. I promise." The Doctor said to Astrid, placing his hands on Astrid's shoulders, forcing her to look at him. At Astrid's nod, he continued. "Good. Now…" He looked around. "If we can get to Reception, I've got a spaceship tucked away. We can all get on board..." He looked outside. "Oh."

Rhea groaned as she stared out the window, a familiar blue box floating into her sight. "You have got to be kidding me."

"What is it? What's wrong?" Astrid asked, eyes flipping between the two of them.

"That's my spaceship over there." The Doctor pointed.

"Where?" Astrid asked, not seeing anything resembling a spaceship.

"There, that box. That little blue box."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "That's a spaceship."

Rhea grinned as an offended look formed on the Doctor's face. It seemed he took slights to the TARDIS really seriously.

"Oi, don't knock it." He protested.

"It's a bit small." Astrid said, hesitatingly.

"A bit far." Rhea snorted.

"Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest centre of gravity and that would be...the Earth." The Doctor said.

Rhea held onto his hand as they watched the TARDIS head down to Earth.

He turned to her, sighing. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking into her eyes for any sign of distress or worry.

She smiled tightly. If he was expecting her to breakdown, it wouldn't happen. At least, not now, not here, not in front of the Doctor. Maybe later. She hated crying in front of others, except for her parents, especially in front of this man. The man who inspired such intense feelings inside of her. Admiration, terror, longing and trust that came entirely too easy for her. Crying in front of him was admitting weakness and, with the state of their relationship, that was unacceptable.

But apparently he could see right through her mask. Damn.

"Hey, hey," He soothed, cupping her face in his hands, offering her comfort that she didn't know she needed. "We'll make it out of here, all right? I promise, I'll get us out of here."

"It's not that." She whispered. "All those people…someone actually wanted them to die! I've seen people who have no care for life, but not on this scale. Not like this!"

He closed his eyes tightly. He didn't know how he could possibly soothe her. What would he even begin to say that would work?

She tensed suddenly and made sure to wipe any trace of her sorrow from her face, the same sultry confidence displayed on her face.

"Come on, alien boy, let's get outta here." She said in her heavier-than-usual Californian accent.

The Doctor was flummoxed from her sudden change from a vulnerable girl to a girl so comfortable in her skin that she was flirting with someone she had just met.

"I love it when you put on the accent." He said, grinning and deciding to go along with it. She'd open up when she was ready to. There was no need to push her.

She pursed her lips, giving him a small, secret smile. "There's more where that came from, honey." She said, winking.

They moved over back to the comm, the Doctor speaking into a tube that came out of the device. "Deck 22 to the bridge. Deck 22 to the bridge. Is there anyone there?" He spoke harshly, as pipes and wiring sparked around them.

They heard a moan and man spoke. "This is the bridge."

The beginnings of a smile formed on the Doctor's face and were mirrored on Rhea's as she realised that things might just be getting better. _Hello, silver lining_. "Oh hello, sailor." The Doctor drawled into the comm. "Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air. The oxygen field is holding. But the captain..." They could hear the man saying in between deep, hoarse breaths. "He's dead. He did it." His voice broke. "I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try."

"It's okay. Keep it together, sweetheart." Rhea said into the comm, trying to offer comfort to a man who was obviously not coping with the events around him.

"Just stay calm. Tell me your name. What's your name?" The Doctor said in a slow and deep voice.

"Midshipman Frame."

"Nice to meet you, sir. What's the state of the engines?"

"They're um…" He began. "Hold on." They heard a low pained groan.

Rhea swore under her breath. "Are you hurt?" She asked the man.

"I'm all right. Oh my vot. They're cycling down."

"That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?" The Doctor asked, rubbing his forehead and one hand clutching his hair. She wrapped a hand around his forearm, squeezing tightly and resting her head on his arm.

"Yeah."

"The moment they're gone, we lose orbit."

"The planet." Frame managed to say through the pain.

"Oh yes. If we hit the planet, the nuclear storm explodes and wipes out life on Earth." The Doctor swallowed hard.

"Fuck!" Rhea cursed and the Doctor turned to glare at her. "Now is so not the time to be lecturing me on my language!"

"Midshipman, I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core." The Doctor said, becoming agitated, clutching onto the comm.

"This is never going to work." Frame said.

"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge." The Doctor said.

The Doctor then switched off the comms and face the others.

"We're going to die!" Foon said.

"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Mr Copper asked.

"We're just a cruise ship!" Astrid protested.

"Okay, okay. Tch, tch. First things first." He said, holding up a finger on each side. "One: we're going to climb through this ship. B..."

"Two." Rhea corrected.

"Right…we're going to reach the bridge. Three, or C: we're going to save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low Four or D or that little "iv" in brackets they use in footnotes...why? Right then, follow me." The Doctor said, turning his back on the others and grabbing Rhea's hand.

He stilled and turned back when he heard Slade's sceptic voice. "Hang on a minute. Who put you in charge and who the hell are you anyway?"

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion of the people on the planet below."

"So, basically, you got a problem with that?" Rhea chimed in.

"No."

"In that case, Allons-y." He pulled Rhea along as he stalked forward down the corridor.

As they were walking, Rhea shifted so that the left side of her body was a hair's breadth away from the right side of the Doctor's body.

"So, two things I need to clarify." Rhea began and, at the Doctor's nod, she continued. "First, Gallifrey, is that the name of your planet?" She asked.

Something indiscernible flashed in his eyes. "Yes." He said, shortly. She resolved to ask him more about it later, when there was less company and their lives weren't being threatened.

She smiled softly. "I like it. The name sounds like something out of a fairytale."

"It was, something out of a fairytale." He murmured, lost in his memories.

"And two," He turned his attention back to Rhea. "Allons-y? Really?"

"What's wrong with 'allons-y'?" He asked, in a high pitched voice that only appeared when he was really insulted.

She smiled, running her tongue over her bottom lip. "I thought that it was a weird thing to say, under the circumstances, but," She looked him over, head to toe. "I got to say, it suits you."

She clicked her tongue. "I was hoping this would be like the movie 'Titanic', to be honest."

He frowned. "Is that the one with Kate Winslet?"

She nodded, grinning. "I had hoped I'd get to say my favourite line."

"What is it?"

"I'll change it up a bit." She smiled at him, a full smile, with all of her teeth showing. "I'd rather be your whore than his wife." She growled, her eyes bright with humour.

The Doctor choked and looked at her, and then realised that she was joking. They beamed at each other, their joined hands swinging between them, and continued to stomp down the corridor, Astrid running up to join them.

* * *

The Doctor slowly pushed open a bulkhead door, blocked by a little debris, that led into a stairwell littered with more debris and sparking cables.

"Careful." He murmured to Rhea, and in a louder voice, said: "Follow me."

The Doctor went first, making sure to clear the way for the others. Rhea was at his back, Astrid behind her, then Mr Copper, Slade and the Van Hoffs were at the end of the line.

"Rather ironic when this is very much in the spirit of Christmas. It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric." Mr Copper said.

Rhea opened her mouth to contest every word he had just said, but the Doctor placed a hand over her mouth to prevent her from talking.

"Actually, that's not true. Christmas is a time of-of peace and thanksgiving and...what am I on about? Christmas is always like this." The Doctor muttered.

"I really don't want to know what your Christmases are like." Rhea whispered to him.

"Don't worry, you'll find out." The Doctor snickered at Rhea's grimace.

Rhea turned to Mr Copper, her voice lowering. "Christmas is a time for family. A time for miracles. A time for joy and happiness and to be thankful for what you've got. Christmas can make whole families better. It's not barbaric at all." Her voice grew towards the end of her tirade, her eyes burning with emotion.

The Doctor walked ahead and lifted a metal rack to uncover a Host, lying on its back against the wall. He made a shocked and pleased sound.

"We've got a Host. Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to fix the rubble."

"We can do robotics, both of us." Morvin interjected.

"We worked on the milk market back on Sto. It's all robot staff." Foon added.

"See if you can get it working." He turned to Rhea and Astrid. "Let's have a look." He said, gesturing to the flight of stairs.

"You sure do know how to show a girl a good time." Rhea muttered as she climbed the stairs right beside him.

Everyone, except for the Van Hoffs, who stayed behind with the broken Host, followed the two up the stairs and found their path waylaid by broken wreckage.

"It's blocked." Astrid commented.

"So, what do we do?" The Doctor asked.

"We move everything." Rhea said, rolling her eyes. But she smiled, when the Doctor turned to her with a massive grin, showing his beaming eyes and bright white teeth.

"That's the attitude. Rickston, Mr Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta..." He made a face. "Look, can I just call you Banna? It's gonna save a lot of time."

"No! Bannakaffalatta!" Bannakaffalatta said, strongly.

"Well, he sure showed you." Rhea whispered to the Doctor, humour in her eyes dute the red-skinned alien's rebuke of the Time Lord and said Time Lord's reaction to the rebuke.

"All right then, Bannakaffalatta," This time he said the name with exasperation. "There's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through."

Bannakaffalatta moved in front of them. "Easy. Good." He managed to squeeze through the opening right at the moment when the ship lurched again, sending loose debris onto them.

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Slade shouted.

Rhea hissed. Her patience was honestly shot to hell at this point. Right now, she really wouldn't mind burying her fist in Mr. Full-Of-Himself's smug face.

"Oh, Rickston, I forgot. Did you get our message?" The Doctor asked, never taking his eyes off the beams that Bannakaffalatta had just gone under.

"No. What message?"

"Shut up!" The Doctor and Rhea shouted at the same time and then looked at each other with matching beaming smiles.

They heard the sound of metal falling to the floor and Bannakaffalatta's high-pitched voice. "Bannakaffalatta made it."

"I'm going under as well. I'm small enough." Rhea said, slipping under the Doctor's arm and pushing herself into the crevice in between two beams. It was true, even on her bow-tie wearing Doctor, her head only came to his shoulders, and on this Doctor, she was just touching his collarbone. Well, she wasn't short when compared to others, she was probably average. It wasn't her fault that Time Lords were like giants compared to her.

"Rhea, be careful." The Doctor warned.

"Oh, honey. I'm really flexible, in fact, I'm Gumby girl. Now, there's something for you to think about! Or dream about…" She said, giving the Doctor a saucy smile and laughing as the blush spread down his cheeks and onto his neck.

Astrid blushed when she heard the two flirting. "I'm small enough too, I can get through."

She crawled her way under the hole.

"Careful." The Doctor murmured, steadying the beams as she went under.

"I'm fine." Astrid groaned as she squeezed through.

"Thing is, how are Mr and Mrs Fatso gonna get through this gap?" Slade spat.

"We make the gap bigger. So start." The Doctor gave a low growl. He handed Slade a piece of metal and started clearing up the rubbish that surrounded them.

Laughter floated up from down below, from where the Van Hoffs were working on the robot.

"What happened? Did they find a donut?" Slade asked, snarkily.

Rhea let out a hiss from her position. The Doctor gave her a warning look. _Not now_, his eyes seemed to say to her.

"We can clear it from this side. Tell me if something starts moving." Rhea called out to the Doctor and removed a large piece of metal onto the platform where she was standing.

"Rhea!" Astrid said from behind her.

Rhea turned around and saw Bannakaffalatta lying on his back, propped up against a metal box, seemingly in pain as sweat formed on his face.

"Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?" Astrid asked, panicked, sinking down to where he was lying.

Rhea rushed over and crouched down beside him as well.

"Shhhh." Bannakaffalatta whispered, holding a white-gloved finger to his lips.

"What is it?" Rhea whispered.

"Can't say." Bannakaffalatta murmured.

"Are you hurt?" Astrid asked, worriedly.

"Ashamed."

"Of what?" Rhea asked, frowning.

"Poor Bannakaffalatta." He said and lifted the white shirt of his tuxedo to reveal a mechanised chest.

"You're a cyborg." Astrid said, shocked.

"Had accident long ago. Secret." Bannakaffalatta said.

"No, but everything's changed now. Cyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married." Astrid said, holding one of Bannakaffalatta's hands.

"Marry you?"

Rhea smiled at the sweet scene.

Astrid grinned. "Well, you can buy me a drink first. Come on. Let's recharge you." She pressed a red button on his torso. "Just stay there a bit."

Rhea and Astrid both went back to cleaning up the wreckage of the ship.

"Tell no one." They heard Bannakaffalatta say.

Astrid looked back at him, a fond smile on her face. "I promise." She said, softly.

"What's going on up there?" The Doctor shouted, his voice echoing throughout the stairwell.

Rhea smirked. "I think Astrid and Bannakaffalatta just got engaged." She called out. The Doctor made a face and they could hear Bannakaffalatta cackling.

* * *

"Almost done!" Morvin yelled.

"Good, good, good." The Doctor replied, quickly. He turned to the comm, staring at Max Capricorn's face on the console. "Mr Frame, how's things?"

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship but they're going out one by one." Frame's voice came in a panicked tone.

"What is it? Are they losing air?" The Doctor asked, his voice low.

"No. One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host." Frame cried.

The Doctor's eyes widened and looked to where the Van Hoffs were working, just as the Host started to function properly.

"It's working!" Morvin shouted.

The Doctor rushed down just as the Host grasped Morvin by the throat.

"Kill. Kill. Kill." The Host chanted in a mechanical voice.

"Turn it off!" The Doctor shouted.

"I can't!" Foon cried, her hands desperately grabbing for the exposed circuits on the top of the Host's head. She was then pressed back against the wall as the Host regained strength and tightened its' grip around Morvin's windpipe.

"Go!" The Doctor shouted when he reached the couple, pushing Foon towards the staircase. He drew his sonic screwdriver out and frantically pointed it at the Host's hand. When it didn't work, he cursed. "Lock! Double deadlock!" He hissed. He put the screwdriver away and tried to use his hands to pull Morvin away from the Host. Once he did, he shouted at Morvin to go up the stairs and join his wife.

"Run, darling, run!" Foon shrieked as she threw herself up the stairs

"Information: kill, kill, kill..." The Host intoned as it stalked forwards. The Doctor walked backwards up the stairs, his eyes wide, as the Host determinedly stomped forwards.

"Foon! Foon!" Morvin shouted.

"Rickston! Get them through!" The Doctor shouted.

Slade raised his eyebrows. "No chance." He scoffed. He managed to get through the gap in the wreckage, ignoring Mr Copper's shout of "Rickston!".

Foon stared at the crevice with incredulity. "I'll never get through there!"

"Yes, you can. Let me go through first." Mr Copper said before shoving himself through the gap, thinking he'd be better help on the other side.

The Host followed the Doctor as he rushed up to the comm. "It's the Host! They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?" The Doctor shouted into the communications device.

Meanwhile, Rhea, Astrid and Mr Copper were helping Foon get through.

"I'm stuck!" Foon cried.

"Come on, Foon, you can do it!" Rhea urged, grabbing her by the forearm and pulling.

Mr Copper was holding a metal pole as a lever to widen the space between the beams and floor. Rhea felt a jolt of fear in the pit of her stomach as one of the beams came down, despite the lever, and narrowly missed Foon as she managed to squeeze through.

"It's going to collapse! Rickston, vot damn it, help me!" Mr Copper shouted behind him, struggling to maintain the force necessary to hold up the beams with the pole.

"No…way." Slade said slowly, sweat clinging to his face as he looked around helplessly.

"Morvin, get through!" The Doctor yelled from the bottom of the stairs. The Host just simply stalked forwards, like something out of a horror movie.

"Kill. Kill. Kill." The Host chanted again and again.

"Doctor, he's stuck!" Rhea said, through gritted teeth, still trying to pull Morvin through.

The Doctor gripped Morvin's rear and shoved. "Mr van Hoff, I know we've only just met but you'll have to excuse me." The extra force was what was needed in order to push Morvin through the hole.

"That's it. We've got you. Doctor, come on, get through." Rhea shouted, holding out a hand for him to grip. She watched in horror as she saw that the Host was right behind him.

"Doctor!" She shrieked, gesturing towards the Host.

The Doctor turned around. "Information override! You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

"I can't hold it!" Mr Copper strained.

"Information: Deck 31." The Host said.

"Thank you." The Doctor sighed. He managed to scramble through the hole. "Let go!" He ordered Mr Copper, wrapping his arms around Rhea, clutching her to his side.

Mr Copper released his grip over the metal pole and the beams above crashed down onto the Host's head, decapitating it.

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea, Astrid, Mr Copper, Rickston and the Van Hoffs found themselves in another room. Foon looked around until she caught sight of a table with food piled on top.

"Morvin, look, food." Foon said.

"Oh great. Someone's happy." Slade said, sarcastically.

"Don't have any then." Morvin retorted.

The Doctor and Rhea headed for another comm device against the wall. The device whistled and the Doctor spoke. "Mr Frame, you still there?"

"Yes, sir, but I've got Host outside. I sealed the door."

"They've been programmed to kill. Why would anyone do that?" The Doctor asked into the speaker.

"That's not the only problem, Doctor. I had to use a maximum deadlock on the door, which means... No one can get in. I'm sealed off. Even if you can fix the Titanic, you can't get to the bridge."

"Yeah, right, fine. One problem at a time. What's on Deck 31?"

"Um, that's down below. It's nothing. It's just the Host storage deck. That's where we keep the robots."

The Doctor looked at the scanner. "Well, what's that?" He put on his glasses. "See that panel? Black. It's registering nothing. No power, no heat, no light."

"Never seen it before."

"One hundred percent shielded. What's down there?"

"I'll try intensifying the scanner."

"Let me know if you find anything." The Doctor said, taking off his glasses. "And keep those engines going!"

Astrid brought over two plates of food, handing them each a plate.

"Saved you some. You might be a Time King and Queen from Gaddabee but you need to eat." Astrid said.

They both smiled and took the food from her, sitting down.

"Yeah, thanks." The Doctor said, grinning.

"So, you look good for 903." Astrid said to the Doctor, sitting down as well.

"You should see me in the mornings." The Doctor said despite the fact that his mouth was full.

"Okay." Rhea said, biting her lower lip and looking at the Doctor, until she realised what she had just implied. They both blushed and turned away from each other

Mr Copper joined the three of them. "Doctor, it must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day."

"So it is." The Doctor smiled and wished them all. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Rhea copied.

"This Christmas thing, what's it all about?" Astrid asked them both.

"Long story. I should know, I was there. I got the last room." The Doctor said.

Rhea stared at him. "You didn't!" She hissed, then laughed. "You're the reason that Mary gave birth to-to Jesus in a barn!" Rhea asked, unable to even conceive the idea.

The Doctor waggled his eyebrows, giving her a look that said 'Oh yes, definitely'.

"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them? They can send up a rocket or something." Mr Copper asked.

Rhea shook her head. "We don't have spaceships." She looked around. "Well, not like this, anyway."

"No, I read about it. They have shuffles, space shuffles." Mr Copper insisted.

Rhea looked at the Doctor, deciding to let him field this one.

"Mr Copper, this degree in Earthonomics...where's it from?" The Doctor asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

"Honestly?" Mr Copper asked, sitting down beside Rhea.

"Just between us." Rhea whispered, conspiratorially.

"Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners." Mr Copper confessed, wiping his brow with a hankie.

"You-you lied to the company... to get the job?" Astrid asked, her eyes wide.

"I-I wasted my life on Sto. I was a travelling salesman, always on the road and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic." Mr Copper said, sheepishly.

The Doctor gave a wry smile, looking at Rhea, who looked at him with questioning eyes. "Hm, I suppose it is, yeah."

"How come you know it so well?" Astrid asked them both.

"I was sort of...a few years ago, was sorta made... well, sort of homeless, and, um, there was the Earth." The Doctor said, his eyebrows furrowing. Rhea looked at him and rested her chin on his shoulder, his hair tickling her cheek.

"Well, I live down there." Rhea said. "It might not be as 'advanced' as the 'Titanic', but it's home." She said, wistfully, thinking of her mother and feeling an ache beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach.

"Thing is, if we survive this, there will be police and all sorts of investigations. Now the minimum penalty for space-age fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. Well, I won't survive ten years." Mr Copper said.

There was banging on the door and both Rhea and the Doctor put down their food. The Doctor jumped up, grabbing Rhea and rushed to the opposite door.

"A Host! Move! Come on!" The Doctor shouted.

The pounding continued on the door, which started to dent due to the force applied. Astrid screamed and they all followed the Doctor to the door. The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the door and it opened to reveal space that looked like a boiler room that ran the entire length of the ship. They could see the only way across was a makeshift bridge, made of a fallen strut, that didn't look all that sturdy, especially if all eight of them were to make it across.

"Is that the only way across?" Slade asked.

"On the other hand, it is a way across." The Doctor said, looking back at Slade.

"The engines are open." Astrid stated, looking down at the massive pipes that breathed fire.

"Nuclear storm drive. Soon as it stops, the Titanic falls." The Doctor murmured.

"But that thing, it'll never take our weight." Morvin protested.

"You're going last, mate." Slade muttered.

"It's nitrofine metal. It's stronger than it looks." The Doctor said.

"All the same, Rickston's right. Me and Foon should-" Morvin stepped on a weak piece of metal near the edge, the railing gave away and he fell down towards the engines with a scream that seemed to get lighter as he fell.

"Morvin!" Foon screamed, crouching down at the edge of the platform, the Doctor and Rhea coming down onto their knees on either side of her. The others watched in shock and horror at the sudden disaster and the Doctor wrapped an arm around Foon's shoulders and Rhea gripped one of her arms tightly.

"I told you! I told you!" Slade shouted.

"Just shut up! Shut up!" Mr Copper shouted back.

"Bring him back! Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor!" Foon cried, hysterically, to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry, I can't." The Doctor murmured, trying to soothe a woman who had just lost her husband.

"You promised me!" Foon shrieked.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The Doctor said.

"Doctor, I rather think those things have got our scent." Mr Copper said from his place near the door.

"I'm not waiting." Slade said and started across the bridge.

"Careful! Take it slowly!" Rhea warned.

The ship rocked and rumbled and Slade was nearly knocked off, falling to his hands and knees on the thin strip of metal.

"Vot help me." Slade murmured, panting with fear.

"You're okay. One step at a time. Come on, you can do it." The Doctor said, untying his bowtie, but leaving the strip of cloth around his neck.

"They're getting nearer!" Mr Copper shouted.

"Seal us in." The Doctor muttered. He turned around and used the sonic screwdriver to do just that.

"Leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?" Mr Copper said.

"Never say trapped, just inconveniently circumstanced." The Doctor said.

"Oh." Mr Copper said, not believing him for a minute.

Slade was halfway across. "I'm all right." He called out to them.

"Maybe he's all right. Maybe-Maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something. I don't know. Maybe he's just unconscious." Foon was trying to give herself and everyone else hope, tears still dripping down her cheeks.

Rhea felt like crying herself, sympathising with the woman's pain. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Foon. He's gone." She hugged Foon.

Foon finally realised that Morvin wasn't coming back. Her crying increased and became even more desperate. "What am I going to do without him?" She sobbed, burying her face in Rhea's shoulder.

Rhea paled. She remembered a time when she had said that about someone. And wholeheartedly believed it. She cupped her hand around Foon's head and just listened to her sob, knowing that there was nothing she could say to make her feel better.

Slade managed to reach the other side. "Yes! Oh yes! Who's good?!" He crowed, pumping his fist in the air.

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next." The Doctor said.

"Bannakaffalatta, small." The alien agreed.

"Slowly!" The Doctor warned.

They all could hear the Hosts pounding on the door from the other side. They could see the metal door cracking and denting from the sheer force the angels were applying.

"They've found us!" Mr Copper shouted.

"Rhea, Astrid, get across right now." The Doctor said, his voice low and determined, suggesting that he would not take anyone disobeying him.

Astrid started across but Rhea was stubborn.

"What about you? I'm not going without you." Rhea argued.

The Doctor growled. "Of course you'd pick right now to argue with me."

Rhea smirked. "It's why you like me." She turned to Astrid. "Go on. Get across."

"Rhea!" He groaned. "Please just cross the bloody bridge."

"No!"

The Doctor growled again, but decided to leave her for now. He turned to Mr Copper. "Mr Copper, we can't wait. Don't argue." Mr Copper followed Astrid onto the bridge. The Doctor turned to Foon, who was still standing next to the spot where Morvin had fallen. "Foon, you've got to get across right now."

Foon shook her head, tear tracks still on her face. "What for? What am I gonna do without him?"

"Doctor! The door's locked!" Slade shouted, stumbling a bit.

"Just think... what would he want, eh?" The Doctor asked, softly.

"He don't want nothing, he's dead!" Foon retorted. She started sobbing anew and the Doctor wrapped her in a hug.

"Doctor, I can't open the door. We need the whirring key thing of yours!" Slade shouted from across the bridge.

Rhea swore and went over to Foon and the Doctor, rubbing her back.

"I can't leave her!" The Doctor shouted.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!"

The Doctor gritted his teeth and pulled back. "Mrs van Hoff, we are coming back for you, all right?"

Foon nodded. He grabbed Rhea's hand and started across the bridge. The metal creaked at the weight of the five of them.

"Too many people!" Bannakaffalatta protested.

"Oi! Don't get spiky with me! Keep going!" The Doctor shouted, keeping a firm hold on Rhea as he grabbed onto bits of metal that were strewn across the bridge.

"So much for a space adventure, huh?" The Doctor muttered to Rhea.

"Oh, shut up, alien boy." Rhea whispered back as she surprisingly managed to keep steady in six inch heels.

There was a great bang and everyone on the bridge stumbled, falling down. Rhea grabbed a metal slab for balance and held onto the Doctor's hand for dear life, their heads touching as they tried to keep steady.

"It's gonna fall!" Astrid shrieked.

"It's just settling! Keep going!" Rhea shouted. They all managed to get back on their feet, when the Doctor and Rhea realised that the pounding had stopped.

"They've stopped." Astrid said, echoing their thoughts.

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta asked.

"Why would they give up?" The Doctor asked, worried for what might happen now.

"It's never a good sign when something stops, trust me. It just means they've got another plan." Rhea said, looking around desperately.

"Never mind that. Keep coming!" Slade shouted.

"Where have they gone? Where are the Host?" The Doctor wondered.

Mr Copper looked up. "I'm afraid...we forgot the tradition of Christmas-that angels have wings!" He pointed upwards.

The Host glided down from above and encircled them.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you liked the chapter anyway. I hope you liked the interactions between Rhea and the Doctor. She is a bit of a flirt with him because she finds his interactions cute, but she will only be like that with him, so don't worry. And they won't be getting together for a little while, at least not until she's met the 9th, 10th and the 11th Doctors a couple of times each, for now it will just be excessive flirting, Rhea's baggage and innuendos. Oh, and I hope you all liked the 'Titanic' references, I'm a sucker for that movie and one of my favourite lines is Rose's "I'd rather be his whore than your wife" and I just had to stick it in somehow.

Read and Review!


	4. Voyage of the Damned: Iceberg

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Doctor Who doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. However, Rhea Adwani does.

A/N: Thank you all again for the continued support. I hope you like the ending to Voyage of the Damned!

Warning: There is a swear word used in this chapter, so if that offends you, please skip over it.

* * *

Voyage of the Damned: Iceberg

_Mr Copper looked up. "I'm afraid...we forgot the tradition of Christmas-that angels have wings!" He pointed upwards._

_The Host glided down from above and encircled them. _

Rhea and the Doctor just stood there, shell-shocked.

"Information: kill." One of the Host said, with each one of them reaching for their halos.

Rhea's eyes widened. "Well, fuck." She whispered.

"Arm yourselves! All of you!" The Doctor shouted.

Rhea grappled for two long pieces of pipe and threw one of them to the Doctor, who caught it with one hand. She steadied herself on her heels and held the pipe as if playing baseball. She said a silent prayer to her cousin for teaching her how to play when she was younger and gripped the pipe tighter. _Focus, Rhea. Stay confident and make every hit count_. She chanted in her head.

The Host threw the halos down at them, the Doctor and Rhea batting each one away with the pipe as they came close enough. Rhea saw, out of the corner of her eye, as Astrid struck one of the halos with a cry, falling to her knees. Rhea swore as one struck the Doctor in the arm and his resulting cry of pain, abandoning her defense and rushing over to him, gripping his arm. She heard Mr Copper's pained scream as one of the halos struck him in the knees.

"I can't." Rhea heard Astrid sob weakly.

There was a clanging of metal and then Bannakaffalatta's voice. "Bannakaffalatta stop! Bannakaffalatta proud! Bannakaffalatta, cyborg!" The alien shouted.

There was a massive discharge of energy, electric blue, disabling the Host and all but one of them fell towards the engines. Rhea felt the energy fly past her, the resulting shockwave sending her hair in different directions. The one that was left fell onto the strut behind the Doctor.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics. Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" The Doctor shouted.

Just then, the small, red-skinned alien fell and Astrid went over to him.

"He's used all of his power!" She shouted.

"Did good?" Bannakaffalatta asked, weakly.

"You saved our lives." Astrid said. The Doctor and Rhea stepped forward, but made no attempt to rush over to the alien.

"Bannakaffalatta happy."

"We can recharge you, get you to a power point and just plug you in!" Astrid said, desperately.

Bannakaffalatta shook his head. "Too late."

"No, but...you gotta get me that drink, remember?"

Bannakaffalatta smiled. "Pretty girl."

His eyes closed and his face went slack. Rhea closed her eyes and murmured a prayer under her breath. She felt the Doctor take her hand once more and she entwined their fingers in a show of mutual comfort and loss for someone who had saved all of them by sacrificing himself.

They watched as Astrid went to button his shirt when Mr Copper reached for the cyborg's power source.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me." Mr Copper whispered.

"Leave him alone." Astrid hissed.

"It's the EMP transmitter. He-he'd want us to use it." He removed the transmitter. "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can reuse it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."

"Do you think? Try telling him that." Slade said, pointing behind them. They all turned to see the Host that had fallen onto the platform beginning to move.

Rhea swore and pulled herself and the Doctor back in order to put some space between them and the Host. She reached for the metal pipe that she had abandoned, keeping it close by her side in case the Host made a move to attack them.

"Information: reboot." The Host said.

"Use the EMP!" Slade shouted.

"It's dead!" Mr Copper shouted.

"It's gotta have emergency-" Astrid started before taking the device from Mr Copper.

The Doctor confronted the Host. "No, no, no. Hold on. Override loophole security protocol... Ten! 666! Oh. 21, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Um, I dunno, 42!" The Doctor was trying random numbers at this point in time.

"One!" Rhea shrieked, deciding to give it a go.

The Host stopped mid-movement and stood passively, as if awaiting instructions.

Rhea turned and punched the Doctor in his uninjured arm, lightly. "Of all the numbers you try, you conveniently forget the most obvious one!"

"Information: state request."

"Good...right. You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?" The Doctor asked.

"Information: no witnesses."

"But this ship's gonna fall on the Earth and kill everyone." Rhea said.

The Doctor realised the point Rhea was trying to make and continued for her. "The human race has nothing to do with the Titanic so that contravenes your orders, yes?"

"Information: incorrect."

"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?" The Doctor asked.

"Information: it is the plan."

"What plan?"

"Information: protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."

Rhea's shoulders slumped and she threw her hands up in the air.

"Well, you could have warned me." The Doctor said.

"Information: now you will die."

Rhea raised the pipe to strike the Host just as it prepared to strike the Doctor, when a lasso was thrown over its head and was tightened around its body by Foon.

"You're coming with me." She hissed, her eyes wet but determined.

Foon shut her eyes tight and threw herself off the bridge, taking the tied up Host along with her.

Rhea's eyes widened and she yelled. The Doctor shouted "No!"

They all watched helplessly as another one sacrificed themselves to save the others.

"No more." Rhea heard the Doctor's determined hiss through gritted teeth.

* * *

They eventually made it past the bridge and the engine room and came out the other side into another set of maintenance corridors, the Doctor kicking away a beam that was in his way.

"Right. Get up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper. You've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS. Astrid, you're in charge of this." He said, holding out the EMP. "Once it's powered up, it'll take out Hosts within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Rickston, take this." He gave him the sonic screwdriver. "I've preset it. Just hold down that button. It'll open doors. Do not lose it! You got that? Now go and open the next door. Go on! Go!"

"All right!" Slade said and went.

The Doctor took down a first aid kit and handed it to Mr Copper.

"Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power point?" The Doctor asked.

"Under the comms." She said.

They ran to the power point and the Doctor showed her how to recharge the EMP.

"When it's ready, that blue light comes on there." The Doctor told Astrid.

"You're talking as if you two aren't coming with us." Astrid said, looking at them both.

"There's something down on Deck 31. We're gonna find out what it is." Rhea said.

"What if you meet a Host?"

"Well, then we'll just...have some fun, eh?" The Doctor said, smiling at Rhea.

"Sounds like you two do this kind of thing all the time."

"Not by chance. All we do is travel. That's what we are, just travellers. Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss, just the open sky."

Rhea swallowed hard. The way he talked about her. That wasn't her. Not this her, at least. This Rhea was a woman driven by duty and determination. A woman broken by her past and a woman who hid her pain under a mask, which she showed to the world. What had made her change her into the woman that he talked about? The woman that he knew. The woman that he cared about, according to the way he looked at her, the way he talked about her. She realised that it could be him. In fact, there was a very good chance that he was the reason for the change.

"I'm sort of...unemployed now and I was thinking the blue box is kinda small for three, but I could kinda squeeze in. Like a stowaway." Astrid said, hopefully.

"It's not always safe." The Doctor warned.

"If today's any proof." Rhea added.

"So you need someone to take care of you two. I've got no one back on Sto, no family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?"

The Doctor looked at Rhea and she shrugged. It was his ship, she was just a constant visitor, but she liked Astrid. The girl reminded her of herself before her life had taken its toll on her.

"Yeah, we'd like that. Yes."

The ship rocked and lurched again and the Doctor stood and spoke into the comms.

"Mr Frame, you still with us?" The Doctor asked into the device.

"It's the engines, sir. Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left!"

"Don't worry, we'll get there." The Doctor said.

"The bridge is sealed off!"

"Yeah, yeah, working on it. We'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow." There was a high pitched noise from the EMP device. "All charged up? Mr Copper, look after her. Astrid, look after him. Rickston, um...look after yourself. And we'll see you again, promise."

They started to leave.

"Hold on!" Astrid called. She then threw herself into their arms, hugging them both tight. Both the Doctor and Rhea were a bit shocked but hugged her back warmly. Rhea squeezed her hand before going, like a promise.

They ran off.

"See you later!" Astrid called after them.

They turned around.

"You betcha, sweetheart!" Rhea said, blowing her a kiss.

They ran back the way they came, back into the engine room and across the lofty bridge.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea ran into a small kitchen but were soon surrounded by four Hosts. The Doctor grabbed a pot by its handle and Rhea a rolling pin and prepared to use the utensils as weapons.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Security protocol one! Do you hear me? One! One!" The Host stopped advancing and relaxed. "Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save my life, am I right?"

Rhea swore suddenly. "Information: correct." One of the Hosts said.

"No, that wasn't one of them. I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?" The Doctor asked.

"Information: no."

Rhea shrieked and smacked the Doctor on the arm. "Shut up!" She hissed.

"No, no! No, no, no. That wasn't one either. Blimey. One question left." He dragged a hand across his mouth in exasperation. "One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me. I'm not a passenger. I'm not staff. Go on, scan me. You must have bio records." There was continuous beeping as the Host scanned the two of them. "No such person on board. I don't exist therefore...you can't kill me. Therefore, I'm a stowaway and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority." He threw away the pot and Rhea followed suit. "And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question: am I right?"

"Information: correct."

"That was amazing." Rhea whispered to the Doctor. "Like really amazing."

He made a pleased sound at her praise. "Brilliant." He said to the Host. "Take me to your leader." Rhea groaned and he turned to her, his smile wide and showing teeth. "I've always wanted to say that."

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea were escorted to the Host storage facility on Deck 31. There was a great deal amount of wreckage after the meteors and fires burned above them.

"Now that is what you call a fixer-upper. Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?"

There was the sound of mechanical doors parting and the Doctor and Rhea spun around.

"Ooh, that's clever. That's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in that, eh?" The Doctor said, his hands shoved in his pockets.

A vehicle rolled out of the chamber.

"Sit through a supernova or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves onboard like this and I should know, 'cause..." Doctor started.

Rhea's eyes widened as she realised who exactly was sitting on the rolling vehicle.

"My name's Max." The head of Max Capricorn smiled.

And his gold tooth dinged.

"Oh, it really does that." The Doctor said, shocked.

"Who the hell is this?" Max asked the Host.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rhea. Hello!" The Doctor said and Rhea waved, deciding the best thing in her circumstances would be to follow the Doctor.

"Information: stowaways." The Host said.

"We-ell…" The Doctor said, cocking his head.

"Kill them." Max said.

"Oh, no! No!" The Doctor shouted, throwing his hands out on either side of him and making sure to keep Rhea behind his back. "But you can't, not now, come on, Max, you're giving me so much good material! Like... how to get a head in business." He tried. Max raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so he's a funny alien." Rhea hissed. "Are you seriously punning now?"

But the Doctor ignored her. "D'you see? Head? Head? No? Head?" He looked to the Host, seeing their blank faces. "Probably not one of my better ones."

Max smiled. "Ah, the office joker."

He trundled towards the Doctor and Rhea, wheels clanking, gears grinding, the box hissing steam. He gave a ghastly smile.

"I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."

Rhea snorted. "I can't think why." She said, eyeing him.

"One hundred and seventy-six years of running the company have taken their toll."

"One hundred and seventy six?" She hissed.

"Yeah, but…nice wheels."

Rhea looked around and almost cursed aloud when she saw Astrid sneaking through a gap in the wall. She watched the blonde crouch down, hidden by debris, watching.

"No, a life-support system in a society that despises cyborgs. I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram. Host, situation report." He ordered the angel.

"Information: Titanic still in orbit."

"Let me see…"

He turned, whirred, clanked and went over to the edge, the Doctor and Rhea only narrowly missing his advance.

"We should've crashed by now, what's gone wrong..?" He looked down below at the engines. "The goddamn engines are still running, they should have stopped."

"But when they do, the Earth gets roasted, I don't understand, what's the Earth got to do with it?" The Doctor asked.

"This interview is terminated-" Max said.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted. Rhea caught sight of Astrid peeking from around a corner.

"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" The Doctor shouted, running and stopping in front of Max Capricorn. "I can work it out. It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me." He said, winking at Rhea. "So... Business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes." His fingers curled into a fist in the air. "The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."

"How do you do that?" Rhea whispered into the Doctor's ear.

"Ah, it's a gift." The Doctor said, nonchalantly.

"My own board voted me out. Stabbed me in the back."

"If you had a back." He said quickly. "So…"

Rhea watched as Astrid moved closer, jumping from one corner to another.

"You scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value." His eyes widened and his mouth formed in the shape of an 'O'. "Oh, but that's not enough. No, 'cause if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."

Rhea's eyes widened as well as she realised where the Doctor was going with this.

"And... the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder." Max said, lightly.

"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber." The Doctor said through gritted teeth.

"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Pentaxico Two where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of...metal." Max said, looking down at himself.

Rhea looked at the Doctor. His brown eyes were wide but cold, his mouth was set in a firm line. His fists were clenched. She swallowed hard as she realised the absolute raw power he exuded, just when he was angry.

"So that's the plan." The Doctor said lowly. "A retirement plan. 2000 on this ship, 6 billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered. And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser." The Doctor said, angrily, his voice getting deeper and more agitated with every passing word.

Max strode closer to the Doctor. "I never lose." He hissed.

"You can't even sink the Titanic!" The Doctor shouted.

"Oh, but I can, Doctor. I can cancel the engines from here." Max said. Rhea thought his tone was reminiscent of a poorly-written James Bond villain.

The Doctor's eyes widened as alarms blared and the room trembled. Rhea spun around and looked around upwards.

"You can't do this!" Rhea shrieked.

"Host, hold them." Max ordered.

The four Hosts flanking the Doctor and Rhea grabbed their arms in their iron grip. Rhea writhed in the Host's grip, trying desperately to figure out a way to escape the tight hold they had on her wrists. She relaxed after a minute, realising that she wouldn't be able to fight them and she would need herself in peak condition.

"Not so clever now, Doctor. A shame we couldn't work together. You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh! Oh, Host! Kill him."

"No!" Rhea screamed as one of the Host holding the Doctor removed his halo, preparing to strike the Doctor.

"Mr Capricorn." Astrid's voice called out from inside a forklift. "I resign."

She started the forklift and rushed towards Max, a determined look stamped across her face.

"Don't do it, Astrid!" Rhea screamed, thrashing around as she realised in growing horror what Astrid's intention was.

"Astrid, don't!" The Doctor shouted, trying to escape the Hosts in vain as she drove over to Max, the forklift latching onto the bottom of Max.

Astrid was thrown back from the sheer force of the impact, but she pushed again. She strained against a machine that was radiating the exact same force she was applying, neither one about to give up.

Rhea saw a Host aim a halo at Astrid and the blonde flinched, but the halo struck the metal side of the driver's seat, sending sparks. Astrid cranked the gears up and turned around, looking at Rhea and the Doctor.

Rhea shook her head, twin trails of tears falling down her cheeks as she realised what Astrid was about to do. She heard the Doctor exclaim "No!" but she was entirely focused on Astrid. She cranked the gears up to the maximum, pursed her lips and slammed her foot all the way down on the accelerator. The forklift wheels shot forward and fast and scooped up Max and raced forward. It shot towards the edge, shattering the railing and Astrid was tilting fast and then she was dropping.

The Host released Rhea and the Doctor, jerking their hands up in a surrender motion, and allowed them to rush forward, crouching near the edge.

"Astrid!" They both shouted.

They watched as Astrid, free from the forklift, looked up at them as she fell, down, down, down, her hands reaching out. There was a last flare of fire from the engine and Rhea spun and hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder, unable to watch any longer.

He clutched onto her arms desperately, as she sagged, and she just shook in the Doctor's arms, not crying, just shaking.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea walked back into the room. Rhea stared at nowhere particular as she walked, her hair was matted and damp and hung around her face. Her eyes were empty and the fight seemed to have drained out of her. The Doctor reached for her hand, attempting to offer solace and comfort through the single gesture. She looked at their joined hands and her eyes travelled up to see his face. She bit her lower lip and rested her head on his arm, his hand leaving hers to come up and wrap itself around her back.

They stalked forwards as sparks streamed around them, as fire soared and as bits of rubble and debris broke apart and fell around them. They held their arms out and the Host linked their arms around them. The Doctor snapped his fingers and the Host fly upwards, gaining speed. With arms raised, they managed to break through the floor of the bridge, causing Frame to shout.

Rhea and the Doctor pushed themselves out of the hole, ignoring their sore limbs and the rubble that surrounded them.

"Ah! Midshipman Frame, at last!" The Doctor said.

"But the Host-" Frame protested.

"Controller dead, they revert to the next highest authority. And that's me!

"There's nothing we can do, there's no power, the ship's gonna fall." Frame stuttered.

"What's your first name?" The Doctor asked Frame.

"Alonso."

The Doctor's eyes widened. Rhea rolled her eyes, this must be another one of his 'things'.

"You're kidding me." The Doctor whispered loudly.

Frame's eyebrows furrowed. "What…"

"There's something else I've always wanted to say. Allons-y, Alonso!" The Doctor shouted, gripping the wheel and spinning it, as the whole room lurched.

_Oh, dear god_. Rhea thought. What was she going to do with him?

Rhea grasped something sturdy as the Titanic titled downwards at a steep angle, suspended for a moment, and then dropping, hurtling towards the Earth.

"Are you insane?" Rhea screamed at the Doctor as she was rocked around.

"You tell me. You're the psychologist." The Doctor said to her.

Wind blasted through the whole room. The Doctor was at the wheel, like a maniac, as he spun it. Rhea could barely hear anything over the roaring in her ears but she saw Midshipman Frame holding onto the computer banks for dear life and she saw his mouth open in a shout.

A fierce red light flared up, filling the room as the Titanic plummeted through the upper atmosphere, burning, with the hull growing red.

The Doctor was at the wheel, yelling with exertion as he spun it, the tilt of the room lessening a fraction. An alarm rang through the bridge and the Doctor used his foot to check. The computer showed that the impact zone was a particular spot in London, marked with a red DANGER sign. The Doctor held the wheel with one hand and grabbed an old-fashioned, Bakelite phone receiver off the computer bank.

"Hell, yes, um…could you get me Buckingham Palace?" The Doctor shouted into the phone.

* * *

"Listen to me, Security Code 771, now get out of there!" He yelled.

The Titanic levelled and levelled and levelled, but still raced downwards. The Doctor was heaving at the wheel, teeth gritted, as if he were physically pulling the Titanic upwards, the room slowly levelling towards the horizontal.

The Doctor started grinning and laughing madly once he realised that the room was now level and the Titanic was beginning to tilt upwards. Midshipman Frame slumped against the back wall, shattered, recovering. Rhea sank to her knees in exhaustion, her head resting on the wall as well. The Doctor slid down to sit with them.

"Used the heat of re-entry to fire up the Secondary Storm Drive. Unsinkable. That's me." The Doctor said.

"Oh, I could think of a few other words to describe you." Rhea murmured her head hanging.

"We made it." Frame said, smiling.

Rhea pursed her lips. "Not all of us." She said, hoarsely.

There was a pause. Then suddenly, the Doctor jumped up.

"Teleport! She was wearing a teleport!" The Doctor shouted.

And he grabbed Rhea's hand, yanked her up, and started running.

* * *

They ran into the same room where Rickston and Mr Copper were and the Doctor held his hand out.

"Rickston! Sonic!"

Rickston threw it and he caught it.

"Mr Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?" The Doctor asked.

"She fell, Mr Copper. She fell." Rhea whispered.

"What's the emergency code?" The Doctor asked, hurriedly.

"Let me…" Mr Copper ran to the plinth and helped the Doctor, both frantic.

Frame entered, still clutching his side in pain.

"What the hell are you doing..?" Frame asked.

Rhea went over to him and grabbed him by the arm and pushed him to sit down. She went over to the blood-stained area and ripped open his white shirt to expose the wound.

The bullet hadn't got in deep but she felt his back to make sure it hadn't gone through. She tore off another strip of his shirt and grabbed a nearby piece of cloth on the floor. She balled up his torn shirt and pressed it over the wound and then tied the cloth around him, so that constant pressure would be applied.

"Just keep holding that there." Rhea whispered to Frame and went back to join the Doctor.

"We can bring her back!" The Doctor shouted.

"If a passenger has an accident, on shore leave - if they're still wearing their teleport, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis... if we can just trigger the shift..." Mr Copper explained.

"There!" The Doctor shouted, pointing.

And they looked, in awe, at the centre of the room, where Astrid appeared with a beautiful blue star-like shimmer. She just stood still, her voice faint and troubled.

"…I'm falling." She said.

"She looks like a ghost." Rhea whispered.

The Doctor was whipping out wires and using his sonic screwdriver like crazy, but Astrid remained transparent.

"…I keep falling." Astrid repeated.

"...feedback the molecule grid...boost it with the restoration matrix, no, no, no! Need more phase containment..." The Doctor was muttering.

"Doctor…" Mr Copper began quietly and kindly.

"No, if I can just link up the surface suspension.."

"Doctor, she's gone." Rhea murmured.

"I just need to override the safety, I can do this, I can do it-" He said, earnestly, looking at Rhea.

"Doctor. Let her go." Mr Copper said.

"I can do anything!" The Doctor shouted. And he kicked the plinth savagely. And then stopped and looked across the room.

Astrid began to fade a little. "…stop me falling."

"There's not enough left, the system was too damaged. She's just atoms, Doctor. An echo, with the ghost of consciousness. She's stardust." Mr Copper said.

The Doctor and Rhea walked forwards. "Astrid Peth. Citizen of Sto. The woman who looked up at the stars and dreamt of travelling."

Rhea swallowed hard and watched as the Doctor pulled out his sonic, somehow knowing what he was about to do.

He pointed it at the porthole on the wall. "Now you can travel forever."

The porthole opened.

"You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying." Rhea said, smiling sadly.

Astrid dissolved and became a shimmer of blue light, like tiny little stars, blowing gently across the room, towards the porthole.

* * *

The Doctor, Rickston and Mr Copper just stood there, recovering, stunned. Rhea and Midshipman Frame entered, having left to apply proper bandages to Frame's wound and to alert the rescue ships to come collect them.

"I've sent the SOS. Rescue ships should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records on Max Capricorn, should be quite a story." Frame told them.

"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose..?" Mr Copper said.

"Should think so, yeah. Is there any of that water left?" Frame asked.

Rhea walked over to the Doctor, taking his hand in hers.

Mr Copper came back to them. "I think one or two inconvenient truths might come to light. Still. My own fault. And ten years in jail is better than dying."

"Doctor…" Slade said, walking over to them. "I never said... Thank you." He said, tearfully, broken and honest. He suddenly hugged the Doctor and Rhea tight.

When he pulled away, Rhea could see a glint of the old Slade back in his eyes.

"Funny thing is, I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I sold all my shares. Transferred them to his rivals." He smiled. "It's made me rich. How about that?"

Slade walked away, on his vone. "Salvain? Yeah, I know, just listen - check the Stock One Thousand, tell me the price on Majestic Cruises…"

The Doctor and Rhea just stared at him. Anger rose in Rhea and she had the urge to run over and punch the guy in his face, but she stood still.

"Of all the people to survive. He's not the one you would have chosen, is he?" There was no reply. "But if you could choose, Doctor. If you could decide who lives and who dies. That would make you a monster." Mr Copper said, quietly and wisely.

The Doctor looked at him and smiled.

"Mr Copper." He said, handing him a teleport bracelet. "I think you deserve this."

Mr Copper realised what he means, putting on the bracelet, as the Doctor got two more bracelets, giving one to Rhea, and they both put theirs on their wrist.

Then, the Doctor looked across the room to where Frame was standing. Frame stood tall and saluted the Doctor and Rhea.

They saluted back and then, there was a glow and the three of them disappeared.

* * *

They trudged across the barren, empty hillside, the Doctor, Rhea and Mr Copper.

"...so, Great Britain is part of Yooropee, and just across the British Channel, you've got Great France and Great Germany..." Mr Copper said.

"No, just France and Germany, only Britain is great." The Doctor corrected him.

Rhea elbowed him in the side. He had given her his tuxedo jacket to swallow her small frame, coming up to the tops of her thighs, to protect her from the cold. "Hey, watch it, alien boy."

"And they're all at war with the continent of Hamerica?" Mr Copper asked.

"America." Rhea corrected.

"No, well, not yet, you could argue that one..." Rhea rolled her eyes and she caught sight of the TARDIS. "There she is!" The Doctor exclaimed with glee.

The Doctor patted the blue box, wiping snow off. They stood on the brow of the hill and they could see the lights of the distant city.

"Survive anything, huh?" Rhea said, stroking the blue walls with a smile.

"Between you and me, I don't even think this is proper snow, I suspect it's the ballast from the Titanic's salvage, entering the atmosphere." Mr Copper said.

Rhea sighed. "Way to ruin the mood!" She complained.

"Yeah. One of these days, it might just snow for real." The Doctor said.

"So! I take it, you'll be going?" Mr Copper said to them both.

"The open sky." The Doctor said, wistfully.

"And…what about me?" Mr Copper said, hesitatingly.

"I travel with Rhea only." He looked down at her at his side. "It's best that way."

She gave him a bright smile, all teeth.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Mr Copper asked.

"Give me that credit card." The Doctor stated.

Mr Copper handed it over. The Doctor studied it and then used his sonic screwdriver on it.

"It's only petty cash. Spending money. All done by computer, I didn't really know the currency, I thought a million might cover it."

Rhea's eyes widened.

"A million pounds?" She asked. At his nod, she turned to the Doctor. "I'm not good with currency exchange, but a million pounds is a lot, yeah?"

The Doctor smiled. "Mr Copper, a million pounds is worth fifty million credits." He said, slowly.

Mr Copper's eyes practically bugged out. "How much?!"

"We-ell," He drawled, scratching the back of his neck. "Fifty million and fifty six."

"…I've got money." Mr Copper said, stunned.

"Yes you have!" The Doctor said.

And Mr Copper took the card, incredulously. He stood back, exultant, laughing to the skies.

"Oh my word. Oh my vot. Oh my goodness me, yee hah!" He roared to the sky.

"It's all yours. Planet Earth. Now that's a retirement plan. Just you be careful, though!" The Doctor said that last part as a warning.

"I will, I will, oh I will!"

"No interfering. I don't want any trouble. Just... have a nice life."

"I can have a house! A proper house! With a garden! And a door! Oh, Doctor, Miss Rhea! I'll make you proud!" Mr Copper exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

He grabbed the Doctor, kissed him on the cheek, and pulled Rhea in for a hug and she embraced him back warmly. He ran off, into the snow, towards the city.

"I can have a kitchen! With chairs! And windows! And... plates!" He yelled.

Rhea frowned. "Where are you going?" Rhea called.

"No idea!"

"Nor me." The Doctor murmured. He turned to the TARDIS, pulling out his key.

They heard Mr Copper's voice and they turned back around. "Oh, and Doctor, Miss Rhea!" He paused. "I won't forget her."

Rhea watched as the Doctor just nodded and looked up. "Merry Christmas, Mr Copper." The Doctor called out and pulled her into the TARDIS alongside him.

* * *

They strode into the TARDIS and Rhea pulled off his dinner jacket and placed it on one of the large corals that sprung from the floor.

"Is life with you always like this?" Rhea asked, going over to him and leaning on the console.

"A bit." He said, sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. She looked at him, fondly, his adorably quirky nature worming its way into her heart.

"I bet more than just a bit."

"Are you all right, Rhea?" The Doctor asked.

Rhea looked at him, shocked at such a direct question. She exhaled. "I'm not used to the whole X-Files thing yet, but I suppose I'll have to get used to it." She ran her tongue over her lips, which stung from the numerous bites she had given it over the course of the night. "…but I realise that you meant specifically tonight and not generally the whole alien thing."

At his nod, she continued. "I'm not good at this." She looked him straight in the eye. "I'm not the kind of girl who spills her guts about her feelings to anyone. I haven't been for a long time. I-" She broke off, realising that, once again, she was telling him too much. "Astrid's death hit me hard…not just because she was someone who died to save us," She ran her hands through her hair, bunching them up. "Because she symbolised everything I was at 16-17, bright, hopeful, caring…but I can't be that girl anymore…and I'm spilling my guts again."

She looked away from him. She didn't want to see the look in his eyes. This man, this terrifying, amazing man, who knew entirely too much about her already. She didn't want to add fuel to the fire. She knew that some time in her future, she would tell him all of those things that were the stuff of her nightmares, but not now. She would deal with that and what he meant to her, if he was able to get that out of her, later. Not now.

She turned back once she had been able to compose herself. "Time Lord, huh? Are there many of you out there?" She asked, her voice hoarse, trying desperately to change the subject.

That same look that had crawled into his eyes when she had asked about his home planet on the Titanic came back. She suddenly wondered if she had overstepped her bounds. She should have more tact than this. She was good at broaching areas that people didn't want to talk about. It was in her job description. She drew back, quickly.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you." She murmured and meant it wholeheartedly. She wasn't trying to be spiteful for him pushing her buttons. She had honestly been curious.

"No." He said, suddenly. "You don't know yet. You should know."

She frowned. "Know what?"

"There was a war." He looked at the console hard. "We all lost." He gripped the edges of the console tightly.

"Is that what you meant by 'homeless'?" Rhea asked, her mind going back to when the Doctor said the Earth had been there for him.

"I'm the only thing that remains of Gallifrey." He said the sentence as if he couldn't believe himself and it made her ache for him even more, if that were possible. "We-el, there's you." He said, looking at Rhea with the same expression he had gifted her with on the ballroom floor.

"There's me." She intoned, guessing that this was the point where she chipped in for the long haul. She leaned her head and rested it against his shoulder in a show of comfort and genuine emotion.

She moved slightly over and covered one of his fists with her own, squeezing tightly. He looked at her hand and his eyes dragged up her body till they meet her green ones. They just looked at each other. Nothing else was said. Maybe they didn't need to be.

* * *

A/N: So, I hope you liked this chapter. It got a bit tedious in the middle, but I pushed through it, so I hope you liked my effort. I tried to make it seem that the Doctor was only so passionate about bringing Astrid back because it would mean so much to Rhea, and because she had died saving them.

Read and Review!


	5. Cold War: Viva Las Vegas

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me, otherwise, I'd have the TARDIS on speed dial.

A/N: Without further ado, here's Cold War! I'm sorry for updating a little later than usual, the site was down, so I pushed my schedule down by two days. I'm glad you all seem to like Rhea, I was really hoping that she wouldn't come off as being a Mary Sue, but you can only really know that when you get feedback.

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned:

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts

Warning: Use of swear words.

* * *

Cold War: Viva Las Vegas

Rhea reached out and slapped the arrogant man across the face, making sure to dig her nails in there as well as she did it.

It was deathly silent.

"That hurt." The man said, the shock was explicit in his voice. "You hurt me."

Rhea raised her eyebrows, her fingers curling into a fist, ready to strike the man down at a moment's notice. "What, you think girls slap because it feels like kisses and kittens? Of course it's supposed to hurt, you pompous creep, we want it to!"

The Doctor moved so that he was in front of Rhea and the King of Nari VI. "While that was an amazing shot, you're going to get us executed." He said to Rhea, making sure to smile at the King, while inside he was seething.

"You think I care? Henry VIII over there just told me I was going to be his concubine." Rhea asked the Doctor, angrily, storming forwards until the Doctor pulled her back against his chest, with an arm around her waist to prevent her from attacking the King.

"It's culture shock at the extreme." The Doctor muttered into Rhea's ear.

"Well, what were you expecting me to do, exactly?" Rhea hissed.

"Just wait, I'll sort this out." He murmured, soothingly.

The King blustered and glared at the Doctor. "You never said she was yours." He said, eyeing their closeness with jealousy and distaste for their 'public indecency'.

"His what, exactly?" Rhea asked, narrowing her eyes.

"He means prostitute." The Doctor said, his eyes hard.

Rhea's jaw dropped. "Did you just call me a hooker?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

"Just go with it, especially if you want to leave here alive." The Doctor hissed in her ear, unhappy about their situation as well.

"It does not matter." The King smirked. "I am king in this world. She will be mine, nonetheless."

His small, fat hands reached for her, despite the fact she was currently in the Doctor's arms, and she made a sound of rage. She felt the Doctor's chest rumble as he growled, low in his throat. She didn't want to admit to herself that him growling was all manners of sexy.

"You will not touch her." He swore. The Doctor bristled. He would have launched himself at the sexist king if Rhea had not been a greater flight risk than himself. He kept a tight hold on her waist, just to make sure she wouldn't do anything to worsen their situation, but understood his hypocrisy as he was a hair's breadth away from showing the portly king what the Oncoming Storm was capable of.

"You have insulted me greatly, King Araxios. She is not yours to take." The Doctor growled. "I never said I owned her. But, she is mine. I do not take well to that kind of offense. She. Is. Mine."

Rhea paled and she drew in a sharp breath after the Doctor's warning to the King. His voice was dark, low and deep and rung clear and loud in the palace's great hall. She could see from the tension in his body that he was pushing his self-control to the extreme and trying extremely hard to not advance on the misogynistic king. She tried not to think about the words he had just said, the meaning he had expressed behind them, and the fact that his voice and words sent very pleasurable tingles down her body. That was something she really didn't want nor need to get into right now.

He turned back to Rhea. "Did he touch you?" The Doctor asked, gripping both of her shoulders, searching her eyes and her body for any sort of irregularity.

"What? No!" Rhea said, shoving the Doctor's arms off her. "Cool it, Dolemite. I don't need a protector." She said, pointing at him.

"Really, because you just slapped the King of a planet, where women have next to no rights, across the face, I'd say you need a guardian angel right about now." The Doctor snorted.

"Hey-" She started to argue, but the King interrupted.

"Guards, put the man in the dungeons and the woman in my bedchamber. I will sort her out soon." He said, fixing Rhea with a leer and eyeing her body in a way that made her equal parts disgusted and equal parts insulted.

"Doctor, get me out of here before either of us kill him." Rhea murmured.

The Doctor nodded just as twenty guards ran into the hall, spears drawn, and positioned themselves in front of the King like a barricade.

"You will come with us." The guard at the front said to the two of them.

"Run?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

"Run."

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea ran into the TARDIS, amidst throwing of spears and the shooting of arrows, which were embedded into the outside of the TARDIS. They shut the doors behind them, the Doctor frantically locking them with his key. They panted, their backs resting against the door, from the three kilometre run from the palace to the TARDIS. They sank down the doors with exhaustion and Rhea buried her face in her hands.

The minute she reached the floor, Rhea burst into low laughs, the Doctor following her lead.

After a few minutes, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood up after the Doctor. She leaned against one of the coral struts as the Doctor walked past her to the console, absentmindedly pulling levels and pushing buttons.

"So, what was all that about?" Rhea asked the Doctor as casually as she possibly could.

"All what?" The Doctor said, confused.

"You know, the whole 'she is mine' deal?"

The Doctor flushed, the red rushing to his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck and made sure not to look at her. "Oh…um, well…"

She left the strut and walked over to the console, looking at him with those big green eyes.

"I was just trying to save you from becoming his concubine." The Doctor said, hastily, trying as hard as possible not to give anything away. "He would have captured and imprisoned you if he thought you were unattached."

Rhea snorted. "It's not like thinking I was a kept woman did anything to stop him. He still tried to trap me in his bedchamber."

"Unfortunately, for an alien planet, they are still stuck in Earth's equivalent of the Dark Ages."

"So, sexist, perverted alien kings aside, you still haven't told me what you meant with the 'she is mine' statement?" Rhea asked, her eyes not leaving his for a second. She wanted to make sure she was observing him thoroughly when he replied.

"Rhea, I can't tell you that right now." The Doctor said, leaving the buttons and levers and looking at her. "Please don't push me."

Rhea back tracked. Her tongue ran over her lower lip. "Spoilers, huh?"

He reached out and cupped her face in his large hands. "One day you will understand why I said those things to King Araxios."

"Why can't you tell me right now?" She whispered, still uncertain whether she wanted him to tell her or not. On one hand, it would one part of this mystery solved, but on the other hand, she would have to resolve her feelings about him, and she had a doctorate in putting chick flick moments off.

He smiled, grief and admiration abundant in the quirk of his lips. "Do you really want to know?"

"I don't know." She said. She could guess from the way he looked at her and how his future self had mentioned a 'bedroom thing' that their relationship wasn't purely platonic, but to what extent were they romantic? She swallowed hard. "Are you always this possessive over your friends?"

"No, not over my friends." His eyes seemed to sear right through her. It was like he could read her mind. Read every hesitant thought, every part of her that she wanted to keep hidden was out in the open and he knew everything.

She turned away, looking at nothing on the wall in particular.

"It's very hard." The Doctor said, suddenly, his voice quiet but he still managed to show the same power he did when he was shouting. "There's so much I want to tell you, so much I want to do, but I can't…because you have to live through it, first."

"I'm sorry." Rhea whispered. She didn't know what she was apologising for. The fact that he cared so much about a woman that she wasn't yet or the fact she would become a woman who inspired such deep feelings in a man like this.

She cleared her throat. "Am I travelling with you now because you want me to be the woman you know? Am I just a replacement until you get her back?" She had been treated like a replacement before. She didn't know why but she didn't want to be second-best to the Doctor. It actually hurt.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "No!" He shouted. "You're not a replacement."

Rhea frowned. "I'm not her. Not yet, at least." Her eyebrows scrunched up. "I don't know how to be her." She looked at him. "I'm sorry. I am. I'm just really fucked up." Rhea said, bluntly.

"I'm not exactly 'fine', Rhea." The Doctor said, laughing harshly. Suddenly, she could see him, the way he saw himself, a broken burning man, injured inside and out.

"But, you care for-" She stumbled over the last two words. "-for her. The Rhea you knew."

He smiled at her. "The Rhea I knew wasn't always the same Rhea. Sometimes she was like you. Sometimes she was different. But I- my feelings stayed the same, because she was still Rhea."

She felt the tears unwillingly spring to eyes and she fought, she raged within her mind and used every inch of her self-control to make sure they didn't fall.

Then, the pain hit her.

She clutched onto the console with one hand and felt like dropping. It was like someone was drilling steak knives into specific points of her skull and she cried out. Her head arched back and she crumpled.

The Doctor cupped her face like he had just minutes ago, except this time it was in terror and a sad understanding. His hands stroked through her hair as he tried to calm her down. She looked down at her hands to see them glowing bright white and she shook in fear and pain. She was scared where she was going to end up this time, maybe further in the Doctor's past, or maybe his future. What if she didn't recognise him? What if, this time, he didn't recognise her? What would she do in an unknown time, in an unknown place, if her only constant didn't know her?

Her hands blindly reached out for something or someone to hold on to. Some measure of support through the pain. Her hands found cotton and gripped onto it tight, bringing it closer to her. Her forehead was rested against the Doctor's as he frantically tried to help her through the pain, stroking her hair and pressing weak kisses to her forehead and cheek. In any other circumstances, she might have decked him for being so touchy-feely, but right now she welcomed the contact. She opened her eyes briefly and looked through the slits, all that she could form at this moment, and stared into his brown eyes and she wondered if this was the time where she died. She didn't care about being melodramatic, all she wanted was the pain to stop.

The pain spread from her temple, down her face and into her limbs.

She burned and knew no more.

When she opened her eyes, after what felt like years, she felt arms around her. Warm, sturdy arms, wrapped around her waist and shoulders, holding her up against something warm and strong, which she assumed to be a chest.

She blearily opened her eyes and looked at a familiar, floppy-haired man.

"Bow-tie boy." She said, hoarsely, and then looked down. "Am I standing?" She realised that she was entirely too far from the ground. "How am I standing?"

"Oh, I'm holding you up." He said.

"Oh, okay."

The pain started to recede and remained as only a dull ache, which she could put up with for a little while. She blinked a few times to get away from the lethargy that came with the transporting across space and time.

"So, where am I?" Rhea asked, looking around at the techno-themed TARDIS and smiling.

"Well, Clara and I were just deciding on where to go next. Ideas?" The Doctor asked.

"Clara?" Rhea raised an eyebrow.

The petite brunette girl, who she had met the first time she met the Doctor, came out of one of the rooms, dressed in a short grey, slightly puffy dress came out of the TARDIS rooms and walked over to them.

"Oh, Barbie Doll, how are you?" Rhea said, grinning at the pretty girl. Her hair was in a ponytail, with her bangs falling out. All in all, she looked like a 1950s version of a brunette Barbie.

Clara glared at her. "Stop calling me Barbie Doll."

Rhea shook her head. "No can do, sweetheart." She turned back to her bow-tie wearing Doctor and clapped her hands. "So, where to now, honey?"

Clara came over to stand next to her. "We can't come to a decision." Clara whispered.

She took a look at Clara's face. Her eyes were red and she could see the beginnings of bags forming under her eyes. She frowned and turned to the Doctor.

"She looks tired. What have you been doing to this girl?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"It's not his fault." Clara said. "The TARDIS doesn't like me very much, I think."

Rhea raised an eyebrow and looked at the walls of the TARDIS. "Why wouldn't she like you?" Rhea asked Clara.

Clara threw her hands in the air. "I don't know! But she keeps hiding my bedroom."

Rhea snorted but felt bad for the girl. She sounded like a spitfire and that was a quality she liked in a woman. She wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders, hugging Clara to her in a show of female solidarity.

She paused and thought of something. She then looked at the Doctor. "Do I have a bedroom on the TARDIS?"

The Doctor nodded. "The TARDIS makes sure your room stays the same, whatever time you left it in."

"But you usually sleep in-" Clara began to chime in but was silenced by the Doctor's glare. "Oh yeah, spoilers." Clara noticed the tension between the Doctor and Rhea. "I'm going to go and look for my room again." She left the Doctor and Rhea alone and went back down into the interior of the TARDIS.

"Well, 'cause that was totally subtle." Rhea said, sarcastically, pulling her hair out of the ponytail and letting it hang down her back.

"So, what are we up to now, Doctor Adwani?" The Doctor said, coming up to her, all fluid and sexy and not at all like the bouncy madman that had knocked on her door what seemed ages and ages ago. He was actually really seductive, which was a characteristic she was not expecting in him, at least this him. He stood right next to her, the skin of their hands touching slightly. She felt the coolness of his body and determinedly ignored the fluttering in her stomach. She wasn't some teenage girl who fell in love without any hesitation or thought. She was an educated woman who had been burnt badly and resolved to leave the love and marriage shtick to women who were better at it and woman who deserved it.

She laughed and threw her hair back, exposing her long neck, pushing aside all of those thoughts aside. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her very short shorts and leaned towards him. "We were just on the Titanic. Oh, and Nari VI, where you almost got us executed."

"You smacked him!" The Doctor said, mock offended.

"He was an alien in his forties who wanted to make his concubine, what was I supposed to do?"

"So, I'm guessing this is early for you then?" The Doctor asked, gazing at her intently and with undecipherable emotion, which was exactly like the looks the blue suit-wearing Doctor she had been with before gave her. What was going on here?

"Well, I've only met you twice, so, yeah, I'd consider it early." She said, resolving not to give their relationship another thought but realising that was a futile decision. She balanced herself on the console and rested her elbow on her thigh. "Is it always going to be this hard?" She wasn't exactly sure what she meant. The time travelling or their relationship.

"No." She wasn't sure what he was answering to.

"I'm just going to keep meeting you randomly." At his nod, she couldn't help but shake a little. There was only so long you could run on adrenaline and curiosity.

He seemed to understand what was going on in her head when he moved so that he was directly in front of her. He bent his knees so that he was her height and cupped her face in his hands. It seemed the Doctor favoured that gesture. He rested his forehead against hers and stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs.

"I know it's hard. I understand, but no matter where you are or when you arrive, I promise you, I will always be there. You will never lose me, Rhea. My golden girl." He said, kissing my forehead.

"Golden girl?" Rhea asked, her voice breaking at the end, emotion clouding her thoughts, her mind still warring which one to allow to the surface.

"Your name means 'golden', doesn't it. You've always been my golden girl."

She sniffed. "That's actually really sweet." She said, hoarsely.

He kissed on the forehead again, chuckling lightly. He pulled her off the console and into her arms, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping his arms around her tightly. His embrace was warm and comforting and just felt right. Silly, but right. She supposed she could get used to this kind of affection. She wondered if any of the other Doctors would give her hugs like this. She decided it couldn't be all that bad if she would have him there. The one constant in her life, other than her mother. It couldn't be all that bad.

There was absolute silence until Clara walked back in, one hand covering her eyes. "Are you snogging or arguing?"

Rhea broke away from his embrace and saw his hurt look out of the corner of his eye. _Sorry, bow-tie boy, I can't give you more than this right now. Please, be patient_. She didn't want Clara to get the wrong idea before Rhea even got the right idea. She had to sort herself out first and that would take a very long time, especially with the weight and the area of her baggage.

Rhea frowned. "What does 'snogging' mean?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

The Doctor blushed. "Um…it's the British equivalent of 'making out'."

"Oh." Rhea's eyes widened. "_Oh_." She turned to Clara. "Why would we be making out?"

Clara cringed when the Doctor started glaring at her. "Oh, I said too much again, didn't I?"

The Doctor nodded, stiffly and then waved his hands about in the air. "All right, where to then, ladies?"

Clara groaned. "Are we going to start this again?"

"Well, we could always go to Vegas?" Rhea shrugged, putting the idea out there.

"Vegas!" The Doctor shouted, his eyes lighting up.

"Really?" Clara said, looking at the two of them, unsurely. "What do you do in Vegas?"

"Drink." Rhea said, bluntly. "Drink a lot. And gamble. And sleep with people you barely know."

"Which sounds very fun." Clara said, not enthusiastic at all.

The Doctor glared at Rhea. "You are not sleeping with anyone." He said, firmly, pointing at her.

Rhea rolled her eyes and laughed. "It is fun. Well, it can be. If we just stay together and don't take any funny drinks and don't spend all our money at the casino, we'll be fine." Rhea said and looked at Clara. "And I mean specifically you with the drinking, 'cause you look like kind of a lightweight."

Clara frowned. "What is a lightweight?"

"Someone who can't handle their alcohol."

Clara narrowed her eyes at Rhea. "I can so-"

"Okay!" The Doctor shouted, getting in between the two. "Las Vegas it is. You should change, Rhea. Do I have to change?" He asked, looking down at himself.

"Why do I have to change?" Rhea asked, looking down at herself as well. She wore a grey top with jean shorts and knee-high black boots.

"You're showing too much leg." The Doctor said. "That's why the King of Nari VI thought you were my concubine."

Rhea clenched her fists and tried her hardest not to punch the floppy-haired alien in the jaw, but instead she looked at him, registering the first part of his sentence, a coy smile growing on her face.

"Have you been checking my legs out?"

* * *

"Viva Las Vegas!" The Doctor shouted, pulling open the doors of the TARDIS, having not changed any of his clothes and just donned a pair of sunglasses.

She felt her world tilting and watched as the Doctor fell towards a control panel just outside the ship. Rhea and Clara followed suit, falling with a scream.

"Intruder on the bridge!" A man shouted.

"Who the hell are you?" A much older man shouted, his hair streaked with grey. He wore a navy blazer with a great deal of badges and medals. Rhea thought it would be prudent to assume that this was the captain.

She noticed that the Doctor placed his sunglasses in his pocket. "Not Vegas then?" Rhea shouted over the sound of water rushing into the bridge.

"No, no, this is much better!" The Doctor shouted, pushing his floppy, wet hair out of his face.

"A sinking submarine?" Clara asked, holding onto one of the bars.

"A sinking Soviet submarine!" The Doctor corrected.

"Oh, yeah, because that makes it SO much better!" Rhea shouted.

"Break out side arms! Restrain them!"

"410. 420! Turbines still not responding!" One of the men at the computer yelled into his mouthpiece, panicking.

"They've got to!" The captain shouted.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on, the whirring sound drowned out by the water. Rhea noticed that this Doctor's screwdriver was much bulkier than his previous self's one, and it had a green light at the end instead of a blue one.

"Ah! Sideways momentum! You've still got sideways momentum!"

"What?" The captain shouted.

"Your propellers work independently of the main turbines. You can't stop her going down but you can manoeuvre the sub laterally! Do it!"

"Get these people off the bridge now!" The first man shouted to the others.

Two crewmen grabbed the Doctor's arms, pulling them away from his side.

"For God's sake, listen to him!" Rhea shouted, gripping onto the pole as tightly as she could as the submarine was rocked from side to side. She shrieked as she was tossed across the submarine.

"Geographical anomaly to starboard - probably an underwater ridge." The Doctor said, despite the fact he wasn't currently in control of his limbs.

"How do you know this?" The captain asked incredulously.

"Look, we have just a chance to stop the descent if we settle on it. Do it!" The Doctor shouted.

"600 metres, sir. 610…" The man, who was watching the meter, said. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver in his direction, at the controls.

"Or this thing is going to implode!" The Doctor yelled.

"Please listen to him!" Clara begged.

"Lateral thrust to starboard – all propellers!" The Captain ordered.

"Sir?" The man at the computer was clarifying.

"Now!"

"You're going to let this madman give the orders?" The man who had been against the Doctor's presence in the submarine asked incredulously.

"Lateral thrust!" The Captain shouted.

"Aye, sir!"

The Doctor yanked out his sonic again.

"660…680…"

The submarine crashed onto the ridge and everyone on the bridge shook from the impact. They felt it slide a little before coming to a halt. Everyone breathed a little easier after the submarine halted.

The Doctor put his sunglasses on as he panted and knocked back against the pole he was resting on.

"Descent arrested at…seven hundred metres." The young shipman at the controls said.

"It seems we owe you our lives – whoever you are." The captain said to the Doctor.

"I'll hold you to that. Might come in handy!" The Doctor said, smirking.

Rhea leaned over and pulled off the sunglasses. "Give me that." She hooked the sunglasses in the front of her shirt. "The only people who wear sunglasses indoors are blind people and douchebags." She said, wagging her finger.

"Search them." The man, who had been against the three of them from the beginning, seemed to be the second-in-command to the captain.

The crewmen looked at Rhea and Clara uneasily, unsure of how to proceed regarding their gender.

"Yes, I know, they're women. Now search them!"

The crewmen pushed the Doctor, Rhea and Clara against the pole in the middle of the bridge.

"Eh? Ooh!" The Doctor cried when he was pinned against the pole.

"Doctor-" Rhea started.

"Just don't kill them." The Doctor warned, knowing there wasn't anything he couldn't say to stop her.

Rhea shrugged and slammed the long heel of her knee-high boot into the knee of the nearest crewman. She put enough force that a crack was heard and he crumpled to the ground with a pained groan. The others looked at her as if she were a witch, warts and all.

"What?" Rhea said, offended by their looks. "Never seen a girl defend herself before." She glared at the second-in-command. "I'm letting you do this. Don't forget that. Your men try anything funny with me or my friend, the Doctor's warning won't matter at all."

The man scoffed.

"Don't push her." The Doctor warned. "There's only so far she'll listen to me."

They pinned Rhea to the pole nonetheless. She turned to Clara as far as possible due to the pole being in a very uncomfortable position near her neck. "Clara, if they try anything, tell me immediately." Rhea murmured to the brunette.

Clara nodded weakly. "Are we going to be okay?" She asked them both.

"Oh, yes." The Doctor whispered.

"Is that a lie?" Rhea just had to ask.

"Possibly. Very dangerous time, Clara. East and west standing on the brink of nuclear oblivion. Lots of itchy fingers on the button."

Rhea snorted. "Isn't always like that?"

"Sort of. But there are flash points and this is one - hair," His hands went to the top of his head. "Shoulder pads," Then his shoulders. "Nukes." His hands waved about in the air. "It's the '80s. Everything's bigger!"

While the Doctor was speaking, the crewmen were searching the pockets of his overcoat. They pulled out his sonic screwdriver, a ball of twine and a blonde Barbie doll. Rhea really didn't want to know why he had a Barbie doll in his pocket.

"I'd like a receipt, please." The Doctor said in a sassy tone, making a grab for the screwdriver.

The captain took the sonic screwdriver from the crewman and held it in front of the Doctor's face. "What is this?"

The submarine creaked and tilted. Rhea fell away from the pole with a shriek of surprise.

"Rhea!" The Doctor shouted.

"Doctor!" Clara screamed as she was jerked away from the pole as well.

"Clara!"

Suddenly, the familiar wheezing and groaning that accompanied the TARDIS when it was taking off was heard. Both the Doctor and Rhea watched the TARDIS start dematerialising and the Doctor waded through the water which was halfway up Rhea's legs.

"No, no, no, no! No, not now!"

Rhea spun around and watched as Clara fell underwater. Rhea swore and rushed after her, pushing herself under the constant flood of water and grabbed Clara's hand and pulled her to the surface. But, by then it was too later, Clara had already fallen unconscious, her brown curls sticking to her face. She pulled her out of the water, resting Clara's head on her shoulder, and made sure the girl's airways were all clear. The Doctor came around her and helped her to drag Clara out of the flooding bridge and into a damp corridor and sat the unconscious girl down against one of the pipes. Rhea took her seat next to Clara and watched the captain shout at the Doctor with mixed feelings of glee and irritation.

After around ten minutes, Rhea watched as Clara slowly started to open her eyes after being alerted to the raised voices of the Doctor and the captain arguing. One of the officers had given Rhea a jacket to wrap around the girl when she had asked.

"Captain, we don't know the type of ship out there…"

"Yeah, well, that's till the rescue ship comes."

"If it comes!" The Doctor said with a raised voice.

"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it? Who are you?" The captain shouted, reaching out, grabbing the Doctor by the collar of his coat and shoving him against the wall.

Rhea stood up quickly and took a step forward in case she needed to stop the captain, but stopped when the Doctor gave her a quelling look. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Clara stand up as well, walking over so that she directly behind Rhea's shoulder.

"All right, Captain, all right. You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be an Earth ambassador. Doctor – me, Rhea, and Clara, time travellers. Clara, you ok?"

"Think so."

"Time travellers?" The captain demanded.

"We arrived here out of thin air! You saw it happen!" The Doctor tried to reason.

"I didn't." The professor chimed in.

"Your problem, mate, not mine!"

Rhea shoved her way in between the Doctor and the captain and used her elbow to push the captain away from him. The man attempted to get his hands on the Doctor again and Rhea pushed him away again. "Think about it, I either sprained or dislocated, if I got a bit excited, one of your men's knee. Don't push me. Don't touch him." She said, pointing back at the Doctor, who had a smug grin on his face.

"We were sinking…" Clara started.

"Yes." Rhea said, not taking her eyes off the captain.

"What happened?" Clara asked.

"We sank." The Doctor said.

"No, what happened to the TARDIS, I mean?"

"Never mind that." The Doctor said, moving so that he was standing right next to Rhea, their hips touching. "Listen…Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?" The Doctor said, soothingly.

"You're right, maybe I can save a little oxygen by having the three of you shot." The captain said, angrily.

Rhea moved her hip slightly so that it was in front of the Doctor, which made her whole body twist so that she was in front of him.

Clara walked forward. "What does it matter how we arrived? The important thing is to get-"

There was a high-pitched growl.

Everyone stood still, except for the Doctor.

The Doctor pointed his finger at Clara while watching the captain, obviously having not heard the growl or everyone's stunned looks.

"…out." Clara finished, her face pale.

"Exactly! Number one priority, not suffocating!" The Doctor said, patting the captain's chest. The captain backed away from them both.

Rhea turned around slowly, her eyes falling shut, knowing that something had to be behind the two of them.

"Eh? Ah, oh, thank you! Finally, seeing sense! Now, what sort of state is the sub in?" Rhea reached out and smacked the Doctor on the arm, trying to alert his attention.

The Doctor faced everyone else in the corridor and took in their stunned looks.

"Doctor!" Clara hissed.

"What about the radio? Can we send a..."

"Doctor!" Rhea growled, reaching out and gripping his hand tightly.

The creature hissed.

"What is that? Gas! Could be gas!"

"Doctor, please turn around." Rhea begged.

He slowly turned around to see the creature. The creature growled again.

Rhea saw the Doctor give a nervous smile and back away, pulling her behind him.

"It never rains but it pours."

"Oh, I hate you." Rhea whispered.

"We were drilling for oil in the ice. I thought I'd found a mammoth."

"I, um, don't think that's a mammoth." Rhea said, slowly, her lips parting.

"No." The professor agreed.

Clara came to stand next to Rhea. "What is it, then?"

"It's an ice warrior. A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back." The Doctor said.

"A Martian? You can't be serious." The captain said, incredulously.

"I'm always serious." Rhea snorted. "With days off." He added.

"Doctor! Rhea!" Clara whispered.

"Just keeping it light, Clara, they're scared." The Doctor whispered back.

"They're scared? I'm scared!" Clara hissed.

Rhea reached out with her empty hand and gripped Clara's as well, pulling her into her side. She exhaled. "Everything's going to be fine, Clara."

She looked behind her and watched as one of the officers came up behind the two of them and aimed his gun at the Ice Warrior. The Ice Warrior in turn lifts his arm containing his weapon.

Rhea's shoulders slumped. _Oh great, a Mexican standoff_.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Please, please, wait! Just... there's no need for this! Just hear me out! You're confused, disorientated - of course you are." The Doctor said, quickly, throwing his hands out in a surrender position. "You've been lying dormant in the ice for, for how long?" He snapped his fingers successively at the professor. "How long, professor?"

"By my reckoning, five thousand years."

"5,000 years? That's a hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out of the wrong side of bed. Nobody here wants to hurt you." The Doctor said and Rhea reached out and pushed the officer's gun down. "Please, just, why don't you tell us your name?" The Doctor said, pushing his hair back and then reaching a hand out to the Ice Warrior.

"What're you talking about? It has a name?" The captain shouted, sceptic.

"Of course it has a name - and a rank. This is a soldier. And it deserves our respect." The Doctor said, leaning back slightly.

"This is madness. That is a monster!" The captain shouted.

"Shut up!" Rhea hissed at the captain.

"Skaldak." The Ice Warrior said in a hoarse, deep voice.

The Doctor pointed at the Ice Warrior, with a small smile on his face, and turned to look at the Captain. Rhea watched his eyes widen after a second and he turned back to the Ice Warrior, distress etched in every line on his face. He took a few cautious steps forward and Rhea followed him.

"What did you say?" The Doctor asked, quickly.

"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak." From her view from the Doctor's shoulder, she could see the pointed teeth of the Ice Warrior.

The Doctor closed his eyes, tightly, his mouth parted. "Oh, no."

"This is bad, isn't it? Really, really bad." Rhea whispered, but judging from the Doctor's face, she thought she had her answer.

The Doctor and Rhea reared back, suddenly, when electricity coursed through Skaldak and he growled. The Ice Warrior turned shakily to look at his attacker, who was the captain's second-in-command.

"You…idiot!" The Doctor shouted at officer.

Skaldak fell to the wet floor, unconscious after such an assault.

"You…idiot." The Doctor repeated slowly. "Grand Marshal Skaldak." The Doctor whispered.

"You…know him?" Clara asked, coming up to them.

"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste, vanquisher of the Phobos heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."

The captain came up to Rhea. "So, what do we do now?"

"Lock…him…up!" The Doctor growled.

* * *

Rhea, the Doctor and Clara were in the communications room of the submarine, standing in front of the captain, who was joined by his second-in-command and the professor as well.

"The Ice Warriors have a different creed. A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero. It was said his enemies honoured him so much they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died."

"Oh, yeah, very nice. He sounds lovely." Clara said, sarcastically.

"An Ice Warrior? Explain." The captain demanded.

"There isn't time!" The Doctor said.

"Try me." The captain said, raising an eyebrow.

"Martian reptile known as the Ice Warrior. When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. They're bio-mechanoid - cyborgs. Built survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world, but an increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire." He explained, his hands waving about in the air as he gestured.

"Like with that cattle prod thing?" Clara asked.

"Like with that cattle prod thing. Bit of a design flaw, I've always wondered why they never sorted it. Oh, look." He glared at the captain. "You've got me telling you about them and I said there wasn't time!"

"Is he that dangerous?" Rhea asked, frowning.

"This one is." The Doctor murmured and the room fell silent.

* * *

A/N: Well, there was the first part of Cold War. I hoped you like the little mini-adventure with the Tenth Doctor and Rhea at the beginning. I just wanted to show a snippet of the Doctor's feelings for Rhea as well as her confusion about those feelings. And I hope you liked the Eleventh Doctor's interaction with Rhea, I hope you think they have good chemistry. This was actually a hard episode to write. I really like Clara (she's one of my favourite companions) and it was hard fitting Rhea into an episode like this. I hope I did justice to her.

Anyways, read and review!


	6. Cold War: Daughter

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, I'd be the Doctor's permanent companion.

A/N: Here's the second part of Cold War! I'm glad everyone liked Rhea's part in the previous chapter, so I hope I did justice in this one as well.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts

* * *

Cold War: Daughter

"_Is he that dangerous?" Rhea asked, frowning._

"_This one is." The Doctor murmured and the room fell silent._

They could hear the beeping from the transmitter through the professor's Walkman headphones. He slipped them on his head and the Doctor and Rhea noticed.

"Why are we listening to this nonsense, Captain? These people are clearly enemy agents." The second-in-command argued.

"Eh?" Clara made a sound of bewilderment.

"Spies, captain!" The man shouted again.

"Pretty bad spies, mate." Clara said in a confused tone. "Don't even speak Russian!"

The Doctor frantically tried to shush her but failed. Rhea reached out a hand to warn Clara but the second-in-command turned to look at her.

"What?" He asked.

"I don't…" Clara paused and turned to the Doctor. "Am I speaking Russian? How come I'm speaking Russian?"

"Now? We have to do this now?" The Doctor asked and then gave a smile to the second-in-command.

"I've been wondering that myself, actually." Rhea chimed in, looking at the Doctor, crossing her arms.

"Are they speaking Russian?" Clara asked.

"Seriously? Now?!" The Doctor sighed. "It's the TARDIS translation matrix."

"The what?" Rhea asked.

"It's a telepathic field that gets inside of your head and translates." The Doctor muttered.

"Inside of my head?" Rhea hissed, her eyes widening.

"It's a good thing!"

"Inside of my head, without my permission!"

"You like the TARDIS!"

"That is so not the point!" Rhea almost screamed. "You could have asked first."

"I'm sorry that the TARDIS doesn't ask everyone whether she can get inside of their head so they don't end up with a language barrier on every alien planet and almost every place on Earth where people don't speak English!"

The second-in-command cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the arguing couple. He turned back to the captain.

"In my opinion, Comrade Captain, this creature is a Western weapon."

"Are they speaking Russian?" Clara asked again.

"Yes! They're Russian!" The Doctor hissed.

"A weapon?" The captain clarified.

"Survival suit. What is the alternative? The little green man from Mars?" The man scoffed.

"Correction. It is a big green man from Mars." The professor said, making the captain chuckle.

"I do not appreciate your levity, Professor." The man said, barely giving the older man a glance.

"Why does that not surprise me? Maybe they're telling the truth." The professor said.

"The truth?"

"Yes. A revolutionary concept, I know." The professor said, sarcastically.

The officer ignored the professor and focused his attention on the captain. "It's essential that we inform Moscow of what we have found!"

"The radio's out of action, in case you hadn't noticed, Stepashin." The captain replied.

"They have our last position. They will find us. When they do..." Stepashin started.

"Yes?"

"Well, the cold war won't stay cold forever, captain."

"For God's sake, Stepashin, you're like a stuck record!" Stepashin turned and walked up to the Doctor and just stared. "We have other priorities right now. I want you back on repairs immediately," The Doctor wiped water from the top of his eyebrow. "We need to keep this ship alive. Dismissed."

"Sir?" Stepashin asked, looking back at the captain.

The captain stood. "Dismissed, Stepashin!"

Stepashin left the room, knocking Rhea's shoulder as he walked past. The Doctor stepped forward and stood face-to-face with the captain and brushed the captain's uniform at the man's shoulder with his hand.

"All we needed to do was let Skaldak go and he'd have forgotten us. But you've attacked him. You declared war. "Harm one of us and you harm us all." That's the ancient Martian code." The Doctor said, lowly.

The beeping from the headphones became pronounced.

"You hear that?" The Doctor asked, pointing to the professor's headphones. "Skaldak's sent out a distress call. He'll bring down the fires of hell just for laying a glove on him!"

"Unless you talk to it?" The captain asked.

"I'm the only one who can."

"No. Out of the question. We're not losing you. I'll do it."

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"You can talk to it through me." The captain said.

"Skaldak won't talk to you! You're an enemy soldier!"

"How would he know that?" The captain asked, confused.

"A soldier knows another soldier. He'll smell it on you! Smell it on you a mile off."

"And he wouldn't smell it on you, Doctor?"

The Doctor froze and Rhea moved closer to him.

"Just let me in there before it's too late. It can't be you or any of your men."

"Well, it can't be you." The captain argued.

Clara cleared her throat and the Doctor, Rhea and the captain turned to face her.

"Well, there really is only one choice, isn't there? I don't smell of anything... To my knowledge." Clara said, her nose scrunching up.

The Doctor smiled but then realised what Clara had just said and his smile fell straight off his face. Rhea's hand went to her temples and rubbed. _Oh, this is going to be wonderful_.

"You? No! No! No way. You're not going in there alone, Clara. Absolutely not! No, no. Never!" The Doctor refused.

"Then, why don't I go in with her?" Rhea jumped into the conversation.

"No!" The Doctor shouted even louder, unable to even think of what would happen if he let Rhea inside with an Ice Warrior.

"Why not?" Rhea asked, folding her arms. "I'm not a soldier, but I'm not defenseless and Clara won't be going alone. It's a win-win situation."

"No, it's not!" The Doctor retorted.

"You haven't given me a reason why I shouldn't." Rhea said, narrowing her eyes.

He grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to the side. "You aren't going in there, you or Clara."

"We don't have another option." She hissed.

"What if Skaldak breaks loose? He could kill you."

"So, he could break loose right now and still kill us all, it's not exactly impossible."

"No, you're not going and that's final." The Doctor said, stubbornly, his tone definite.

* * *

Rhea opened the hatch to the torpedo room, grabbing Clara's hand with one hand and holding the lantern with another. The two girls wore matching headphones with microphones around their necks. Rhea peered in and saw Skaldak standing still, chained up to an iron bar. They stepped inside and Rhea closed the door, making sure that her headset was on correctly. They inched into the room and Rhea gave another one of the lamps to Clara, who turned it on and smiled.

The Doctor, watching their entrance through the screen from a distance, let out a low sound of annoyance. He walked up so that he was behind the captain, who was in front of the microphone.

"With your permission?" The Doctor murmured, tapping the captain on the shoulder, with as much patience as he could muster through the tension in his body.

The captain stood. "Be my guest."

The Doctor sat where the captain had been moments ago and tapped the microphone.

"Ready, Rhea? Clara?"

"Yeah." They both said, breathing heavily as they got closer to the Ice Warrior.

"Okay." The Doctor's voice came over the headset.

"Grand Marshal Skaldak." Rhea said in a low and certain voice.

"The salute." The Doctor reminded. "Do the salute just like I showed you."

Rhea placed her lamp on the ground in front of her and Clara held hers between her legs. They saluted Skaldak by putting their right fists to their left shoulders. They heard Skaldak hiss and they picked up their lamps again.

Rhea held hers out as she walked closer.

"Was that okay?" Rhea asked.

"Good. Good. Now, like we rehearsed. 'Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste...'"

"Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste. By the moons, I honour thee." Clara said, her voice slightly trembling but still steady. She moved so that she was right next to Rhea.

"Good. It's okay, both of you. Go closer."

They walked slowly towards Skaldak.

"Grand Marshal, I'm… we're sorry about this." Rhea apologised in a low and soothing sound.

"It's not what you deserve." The Doctor said into the microphone.

"It isn't what you deserve." Clara said.

Just then, the power went out throughout the entire submarine.

"Oh! Oh, great!" Clara said in a high-pitched voice. Rhea reached behind her and gripped Clara's hand, who took it gratefully.

"Hey, it's okay. Keep going." The Doctor appeased.

Rhea put down her lamp and pulled out a flashlight, turning it on and pointing it at Skaldak.

"You're a long way from home." Rhea said to him.

"5000 years." The Doctor said.

"And 5000 years adrift in time. Please, let us help you. You're not our enemy." Rhea murmured.

"And yet, I am in chains." Skaldak said in a loud growl.

Rhea paused, uncertain. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and get all of them killed. "Doctor, any ideas? What do I say?"

"Yes, Doctor. What should she say?" Skaldak rumbled.

"I think he wants to speak to the organ-grinder, not to the monkey." Rhea heard the professor's comment through the headpiece.

"Watch it." She warned.

"You're restrained until we can trust each other, Skaldak. You would do exactly the same in my position and don't even think about using that sonic weapon." The Doctor's voice was a low growl at the end of his sentence. "Not in the torpedo room."

"I was fleet commander of the Nix Tharsis. My daughter stood by me... It was her first taste of action. We sang the songs of the old times. The songs of the red snow." The Doctor closed his eyes in sympathy. "5,000 years, now my daughter will be... dust! Only dust." Skaldak growled angrily.

"No, no, no, listen. Your people live on, Skaldak! Scattered all across the universe. And Mars will rise again, I promise you. Just, let me help you."

Rhea started to step closer to Skaldak, Clara following in her wake.

"I require no help. There will be no help!"

The Doctor watched as Rhea and Clara approached Skaldak. "Be careful, Rhea, Clara." He warned, clenching the top of the table with his fists.

"We're okay." Clara said.

"No, listen, Rhea, don't get too close."

"I'm okay!" Rhea growled. "Listen, Doctor, something's wrong."

"What?"

"Something's…"

Rhea reached out and touched Skaldak's helmet. It fell backwards to reveal an empty suit of armour. Rhea recoiled and Clara backed away with loud gasps, pressing themselves against the row of bars on the opposite side of Skaldak's empty armour.

"It's not there! It's gone!" Clara shouted into her mouthpiece.

The front of the armour slid open by itself to show the hollow inside, despite the chains holding it together.

"Gone? Gone? Gone, what do you mean, gone?!" The Doctor said, his voice rising, and he tapped on the glass monitor.

"She means, gone! Like, not there anymore!" Rhea hissed into her mouthpiece.

"It is time I learned the measure of my enemies. And what this vessel is capable of."

Rhea and Clara backed away from the iron bars and stood still, looking around nervously and desperately in the dim light.

"No, no, no, Skaldak!" The Doctor tried to reason.

"Harm one of us and you harm us all! By the moons, this I swear!"

"Rhea! Get out of there! Get out!" The Doctor shouted.

The Doctor got up from his chair and made to leave for the torpedo room, rushing for the door, when the captain pulled out his gun and aimed for the Doctor's forehead.

The Doctor held his hands out, barely keeping himself still. "I've never seen one do this before! Actually, I've never seen one out of its armour before."

The captain lowered his gun and the Doctor ran for the door.

"Won't it be more vulnerable out of its shell?" The professor asked.

The Doctor paused in the doorway. "No, it will be more dangerous." He said, running off.

* * *

Rhea and Clara spun around, the flashlight clasped tightly in Rhea's hand, as they tried to pinpoint Skaldak's exact location in the torpedo room. All they could hear was frantic hissing and the sound of metal as the Ice Warrior hit the walls.

* * *

The Doctor ran for the torpedo room.

"Rhea! Clara!"

* * *

Rhea heard Skaldak and her eyes widened. She saw the hatchway through which they had entered and ran over to try and open it, dragging Clara along with her.

"Come on!" Rhea said, through gritted teeth, as she tried to shove it open. She pushed with her hands, then her feet and she heard Clara grunt as the girl tried to help her. It opened finally and Rhea and Clara breathed a sigh of relief. The hissing grew louder and Rhea and Clara turned to face the torpedo room, sinking down to the floor, as Skaldak streaked past them out into the corridor.

* * *

Skaldak rushed past the Doctor, the captain and the professor. The Doctor hurried to the hatchway.

"Rhea! Rhea! Clara! Rhea!" The Doctor shouted, pulling Rhea out and then Clara.

He wrapped his arms around Rhea tightly. He pushed himself back to look at her properly, gripping her shoulders tightly with his hands. "Are you all right?" He asked, worriedly, wiping a damp curl away from her face and then cupping her cheek.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" Rhea said, breathing heavily from the panic and the exertion.

He hugged her again, just as tightly, this time kissing her forehead and resting his head on the top of hers.

The Doctor turned to Clara, who was leaning against the hatchway with her eyes shut.

He went over to her and asked her the same question.

"I'm okay." Clara laughed. "I'm ok, I'm ok! Where did he go?" She looked at the Doctor. "How did I do? Was I okay?" Clara asked, seeking for approval.

"This wasn't a test, Clara." The Doctor said, sternly, looking around for any evidence of Skaldak.

"I know but…" The Doctor walked back over to her.

"You were great. Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The Doctor said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Rhea made a sound. "Whoa! What a rush!" She said and then started laughing madly.

"Doctor, the signal, it's stopped." The professor said.

The Doctor and Rhea hurried over to the professor and listened in.

"Skaldak got no answer from his Martian brothers. Now he's given up hope." The Doctor muttered, walking through the length of the corridor.

"Hope of what?" The captain asked.

"Being rescued. He thinks he's been abandoned." The Doctor's face was dark. "He's got nothing left to lose."

"But what can he do stuck down here like the rest of us? How bad can it be?" The captain asked, desperately.

The Doctor bristled and stalked over to the captain. "This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles, Zhukov. It's fat with them! What do you think Skaldak's going to do when he finds that out?" He turned away. "'How bad can it be? How bad can it be?' It couldn't be any worse." He muttered.

Something hit the submarine from above, jostling everyone in the corridor about. One of the hatches between the hulls opens and water started to flood the entire corridor.

"Okay, spoke to soon." Rhea heard the Doctor mutter amidst the large volumes of water that were pouring into the corridor around them. _I bet he does that a lot_.

* * *

"Comrades, you know our situation. The reactor is drowned, we are totally reliant on battery power and our air is running out. Rescue is unlikely but we still have a mission to fulfill. If the Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. We are expendable, comrades, our world is not. I know I can rely on every one of you to do his duty without fail. That is all." The captain addressed his crew with a low and solemn tone.

* * *

The Doctor was sitting at one of the control banks with Rhea standing on one side beside him and Clara on the other side, facing the room.

"Even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be... it, would it?" Clara asked, tentatively.

"It?" The Doctor clarified.

"End of the world. Game over. I mean, what if they fired one by accident, what would happen then?" Clara asked.

"I told you, Clara. Earth is like a storm waiting to break, right now. Both sides baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take one tiny spark." The Doctor said.

"But the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or I wouldn't be here."

Rhea closed her eyes. "I'm sensing bad news here."

"New. History's in flux. It can be changed. Re-written." The Doctor stood up and walked over to the captain, standing beside him. "How many of us are left?"

"Twelve – and we can't find Stepashin." The captain muttered to the Doctor.

"We split up and comb the sub. One team stays here to guard the bridge."

"That's it? That's the plan?" The captain asked, doubtful.

"Well, it's either that or we stay here and wait for him to kill us."

"Okay." The captain agreed and walked away.

"Is it true you've never seen one outside of its armour?" Rhea asked the Doctor, walking up to him.

"Rhea, for an Ice Warrior to leave its armour is the gravest dishonour. Skaldak is desperate, he is deadly and we have got to find him." The Doctor murmured to her.

"Will this help?" The professor asked, suddenly, holding up the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

"Ah! You saved it!" The Doctor said, taking the screwdriver from the professor.

"No, no, it was on the floor with this." The professor held up the Barbie doll.

"Ah!" He took the doll and kissed it. "Ah, professor, I could kiss you!"

"If you insist." The professor said, dryly.

The Doctor paused. "Later." He said, using the sonic with a boyish grin on his face.

* * *

The Doctor scanned the room with the sonic.

"So, why have you got a cattle prod on a submarine?" Clara asked the professor.

"Polar bears." The professor replied.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Yeah, 'cause that makes so much sense."

"We run across them when we're drilling. Can be quite nasty, you know?" The professor explained.

"I'd swap one for an Ice Warrior any day. Cuddlier!" Clara said.

"Courage, my dear."

Rhea walked up to the Doctor, who flicked a switch and an alarm started blaring. He frantically tried to shut it off and Rhea smacked her forehead with her palm.

"Good job." She said, sarcastically.

"I always sing a song." The professor was saying to Clara.

"What?"

"To keep my spirits up."

"Yes, that would work…if this was Pinnochio." Clara muttered the last bit.

The Doctor was still trying to stop the alarm.

"D'you know _Hungry like the Wolf_?" The professor asked Clara suddenly.

Clara stopped and turned to look at him, bewilderment clear on her face. "What?"

"Duran Duran - one of my favourites. Come on!"

"I'm not singing a song!" Clara said, vehemently.

The Doctor opened a hatch on the wall, which released a rush of air. He stuck his head into the hatch and used the screwdriver. The sound of eerie groaning filled the air making the four of them freeze. The Doctor quickly withdrew his head and looked up.

"What was that?" Clara asked, slowly.

"Pressure. Just pressure. We're seven hundred metres down, remember." The Doctor tried to appease Clara.

"Don't worry about it. Think of something else." He started singing. "_Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da I am hungry like the wolf._"

"I'm not singing!" Clara hissed.

"Don't you know it?" Rhea asked Clara, playfully, wondering how the feisty girl was going to get out of this one.

"'Course I know it. We do it at karaoke. The odd hen night."

"'Karaoke'? 'Hen night'?" The professor looked confused. "You speak excellent Russian, my dear, but sometimes I don't understand a word you're talking about."

Rhea watched as Clara smiled and smirked and they continued on.

* * *

Suddenly, snarls and growls and high-pitched screams were heard. The Doctor and Rhea ran towards the sounds and the others followed. The Doctor was the first to find the two bodies and knelt beside one of them. Rhea swallowed hard when she saw the state of the two bodies and her pained look was mirrored on the Doctor's face. Clara and the professor joined them, not having been too far behind. Clara was shocked and her face was paler than usual. Rhea reached out and pulled her close, trying to offer some sort of comfort.

"Good God! Torn apart. It's a monster. A savage!" The professor hissed.

"No, Professor. Not savage, forensic. Well, he's... dismantled them. Skaldak's learning. Learning all about you. Your strengths... Your weaknesses..." The Doctor scanned the ceiling with the screwdriver and stood. "Come on!" He shouted, dashing from the room and pulling Rhea along with him.

The professor followed the Doctor but Clara couldn't seem to look away. The professor noticed her frozen state and took her arm, pulling her away. The Doctor and Rhea hurried down another corridor, the screwdriver held in front of them. They stopped.

"Stay here." The Doctor said to Clara.

"Okay." Clara agreed.

"Stay here! Don't argue!" He ordered before starting up the ladder, Rhea right behind him.

"I'm not!" Clara shouted.

The Doctor paused and Rhea grinned. "Right. Good!" The Doctor said before continuinh up the ladder.

"That's doesn't happen to you a lot, does it?" Rhea asked him.

"What? A companion who doesn't follow me into life-threatening danger?" He looked down at her and shook his head. "No. You're proof enough as it is."

"Yeah, but I'd punch you in the face if you suggested I'd wait for you while you went traipsing around a submarine with a homicidal Martian on the loose."

She heard the Doctor winced, as if he remembered something painful, and smiled, looking forward to an event in her future. "Don't I know it."

"And don't you forget it." Rhea warned.

"Don't plan to."

* * *

They climbed up the ladder until they reached a door, which the Doctor pushed open and climbed off the ladder. He held a hand out to Rhea, who took it, and pulled hard and she was shoved into his arms. They would have fallen to the floor, with Rhea on top of the Doctor, had he not steadied them quickly.

"Okay?" He murmured into her hair.

"Yeah." She whispered back, looking up at him and noticing the lack of space between them. She could see the water droplets all over his face and sticking to the locks of his hair. She wiped a few on his forehead with the backs of her fingers.

"You've gotten really wet." She said, absentmindedly. "You still look hot, though."

He smirked and she shoved past him, realising what she had just said. _Stupid alien_.

She suddenly skid to a stop when she saw a body.

"Doctor!" She shouted.

The Doctor ran up to her and saw the body. He pulled Rhea behind him. He knelt down and picked up a wallet lying on the floor. He opened the inside to find a photo of a woman and an ID card, which was smeared in blood. Rhea closed and rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers.

"Oh, Stepashin." The Doctor murmured.

They heard metal rattling and retreating steps coming from the ceiling and the Doctor looked up and scanned with the sonic screwdriver. They ran along the corridor, the whole time staring at the ceiling with the screwdriver whirring in the background.

"Oh... oh... oh! Fast. He's fast..." The Doctor muttered to himself, before they continued on their way.

Suddenly, they heard a gunshot and they both froze.

"Clara." Rhea whispered and ran back to the ladder which had brought them here. She climbed down as quickly as she could and ran back to the corridor in which they had left Clara, the Doctor right at her heels.

They ran up to Clara who was standing in front of the professor. The professor was being gripped around the face with long green fingers and held suspended in the air.

"No please, don't hurt him. Please!" Clara begged.

The Doctor and Rhea looked up into the darkness in the ceiling and only glowing red eyes were visible.

"You attacked me! Martian law decree's that the people of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one missile to begin the process. To end this cold war." Skaldak's voice was a dark growl.

"Grand Marshal, there is no need for this. Listen to me..." The Doctor tried to convince the Ice Warrior in vain.

"My distress call has not been answered. It will never be answered. My people are dead. They are dust. There is nothing left for me except my revenge." He growled and a beeping sounded.

"There is something left for you, Skaldak. Mercy." The Doctor said.

"Mercy?"

The Captain and a few officers ran up and the Captain pointed his rifle at the glowing red eyes.

"You must wear that armour for a reason, my friend. Let's see, shall we?" The captain said quickly.

The Doctor grabbed the barrel of the gun and pushed it down. "Captain, no, wait!"

But the captain stood steadfast. "I will do whatever it takes to defend my world, Doctor."

The Doctor held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Yes, great, fine, good, but we're getting somewhere here." He turned back to Skaldak. "We're negotiating," He tried to pacify the alien. "'Jaw-jaw not war-war'."

"Churchill?" The professor questioned, incredulously, still trapped in the grip of the Ice Warrior.

The Doctor pointed at the professor. "Churchill."

"Very well, we'll negotiate but from a position of strength." The captain agreed before aiming his rifle at Skaldak again.

"Excellent tactical thinking. My congratulations, Captain." Skaldak praised.

"Thank you."

"Unfortunately, your position is not, perhaps, as strong as you might hope."

There was a low growl and the Doctor looked around.

"What do you mean?" Rhea asked the Ice Warrior.

Suddenly, the Ice Warrior's armour was in the hatchway, chains still trailing from its ankles and wrapped around its torso. Skaldak streaked across the ceiling, releasing the professor, who fell to the ground on his feet, and over to the suit and it closed around him with a bang of finality.

"He summoned the armour." The Doctor murmured.

"How did it do that?" Clara asked, fearfully.

"Sonic tech, Clara. The song of the Ice Warrior!" The Doctor explained.

A young office pushed past the three time-travellers and started shooting at Skaldak, who simply turned around and walked away, not at all bothered by the gunfire.

"Are you insane?" Rhea shouted at the crewman. "You could kill us all." She was particularly disturbed by the fact that the bullets seemed to bounce off the armour and ricochet onto the walls. If the bullets bounced off the walls as well, they could be in a lot of danger, and not just from nuclear missiles.

The Doctor, understanding her train of thought, pulled the crewman back and stopped him from shooting any further.

"My world is dead but now there will be a second red planet! Red with the blood of humanity!" Skaldak growled as he walked away and stepped through the hatchway.

"Skaldak! Skaldak! Wait!" The Doctor shouted after the Ice Warrior, running after him, with Rhea, the captain and the crewmen following him.

* * *

The Doctor rushed into the control room of the submarine, followed by Rhea and the captain.

"No! Skaldak! Wait! Wait! Wait!" The Doctor shouted, frantically, getting as close as he possibly could to the Ice Warrior, his sonic screwdriver in one hand.

The captain aimed the gun at Skaldak. "He's arming the warheads."

"Where is the honour in condemning billions of innocents to death? 5,000 years ago Mars was the centre of a vast empire. The jewel of this solar system. The people of earth had only just begun to leave their caves. Five thousand years isn't such a long time, they're still just frightened children. Still primitive. Who are you to judge them?" The Doctor said, still anxiously trying to reason with Skaldak.

The wires from the Ice Warrior's hand retracted and Skaldak turned to face the Doctor.

"I am Skaldak! This planet is forfeit under Martian law." Skaldak intoned.

"Then teach them! Teach them, Grand Marshal!" The Doctor insisted. "Show them another way! Show them there is honour in mercy. Is this how you want history to remember you?" The Doctor stepped forward. "Grand Marshal Skaldak - Destroyer of Earth?"

Clara rushed into the room.

"Because that's what you'll be if you send those missiles. Not a soldier, a murderer. Five billion lives extinguished."

Skaldak grunted, ignored the Doctor and turned around. His hand hovered above the launch button.

"No chance for goodbyes. A world snuffed out like a candle flame!" Skaldak stood, unmoved by the Doctor's words. "All right, all right," The Doctor voice was far from soothing and now he roared. "Skaldak, you leave me no choice. I'm a Time Lord, Skaldak. I know a bit about sonic technology myself." The Doctor pointed the glowing green tip of his sonic screwdriver at Skaldak's back.

"A threat? You threaten me, Doctor?" Skaldak asked, practically insulted that the Doctor would dare threaten him.

"No. No, not you..." He swallowed hard. Rhea reached out between them and grasped his hand tightly, realising that this decision was hard for him to make. She rested her head on his shoulder when he squeezed back, just as tight. "All of us." He said, his lips pursed. "I will blow this sub up before you can even reach that button, Grand Marshal. Blow us all to oblivion."

"You would sacrifice yourself?" Skaldak asked, incredulously.

"In a heartbeat." The Doctor said, without missing a beat, and held the sonic up, turned it on and it glowed red instead of green.

Skaldak's red eyes turned to Rhea. "Your woman as well?"

She ignored the possessive pronoun. "You're going to kill us all, anyway, what better way to go out than by saving the Earth." Rhea said.

The Doctor looked at her. Something seemed to pass between them and Rhea nodded, accepting what he was willing to do to protect the Earth.

"Mutually assured destruction!" Skaldak said.

"Look into my eye, Skaldak. Look into my eyes and tell me you're capable of doing this. Huh? Can you do that? Dare you do that? Look into my eyes, Skaldak, come on! Face-to-face." The Doctor shouted.

Skaldak turned around. "Well, Doctor," The helmet opened and the Ice Warrior's face was visible. "Which of us will blink first?"

Rhea tried not to let the alien's appearance shock her too much. She could see the stunned look on the Doctor's face as he caught his first glimpse of an Ice Warrior without their armour.

"Why did you hesitate? Back there, in the dark. You were going to kill this man, remember? I begged you not to and you listened. Why show compassion then, Skaldak, and not now?" Clara asked, stepping forward, confidence rising in her. "The Doctor's right. Billions will die... Mothers, sons, fathers... daughters. Remember that last battle, Skaldak? Your daughter... You sang the songs..."

"Of the red snows." Skaldak finished.

"Clara and I, we're daughters as well. We have parents. Mothers and fathers who would hurt as much as you do if they knew we were dead." Rhea tensed, but pushed on, trying her hardest to get through to him. "If your daughter was here, could you do it? Would you really wish your pain on any other father or mother?" Rhea asked.

There was a crashing sound and the submarine lurched, sending everyone in completely different directions. Everyone made a sound of shock and tried their hardest to grab onto something as the water flow inside the room slightly increased.

"What's happening?" Clara shouted.

"My people live! They have come for me!" Skaldak growled, the pleasure evident in his voice.

The captain watched the depth gauge with surprise. "We're rising. We're rising!" He shouted, gleefully.

"Six hundred metres… five hundred and fifty…" The professor murmured, watching the meter as well.

* * *

After a while, the people in the control room felt the submarine break through the ice directly above them.

"We've surfaced. Your people have saved us." The Doctor murmured.

"Saved me, not you." Skaldak corrected.

"Just go, Skaldak, please. Please... go in peace." The Doctor said, practically pleading.

There was a bright white, wispy light and Skaldak was teleported back onto his ship.

"We did it! We did it!" Clara exclaimed.

The Doctor went to the controls, quickly. "No. No, no, no, no, no! It's still armed. A single pulse from that ship... I'll destroy us if I have to." Rhea could hear the Doctor trying to reassure himself and went up to him, curling her hand around bicep and he rested his head against hers, welcoming the contact. He held the sonic against his forehead. "I will destroy us if I have to. Show mercy, Skaldak. Come on, show mercy." He whispered furiously.

"Da-da-da-dah I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf." Clara sang, nervously.

A klaxon sounded as the key ports switched back to vertical and the lights turned green from an angry red.

The Doctor shut off the sonic and wiped a hand across his forehead. "Now, we're safe." He looked at Rhea at his side and pulled back close, hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead and Rhea rested her head on his collarbone, turning around in his embrace, and breathed heavily.

Clara walked over to them both and hugged them tightly, Rhea exclaiming slightly as she was squished in between the two. Clara ended the hug and cleared her throat to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Saved the world then?" Clara asked in a nonchalant tone.

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed.

"That's what we do." Clara said with a small smile on her face at the end.

"Yeah." The Doctor said.

Rhea grinned.

* * *

The hatch at the top of the submarine opened and the captain stepped out onto the tower followed by the Doctor, Rhea, Clara and the professor. They looked up at the massive white crystal ship, hovering above them. The Doctor whistled in appreciation.

"The TARDIS! Where's the TARDIS? You never explained." Clara suddenly asked the Doctor.

The Doctor had a look of embarrassment on his face as he rested his elbows on the tower. "Oh, well, don't worry about that." The Doctor tried to change the subject and purposefully tried to not to look at the two girls.

"Stop saying that." Clara said.

"Where is it?" Rhea asked, turning to him.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't to know, was I?" The Doctor threw his hands out, saying the words that people who were guilty of doing something incredibly stupid usually said.

"Know what?" Clara asked.

"I've been tinkering... breaking her in." He looked at them. "I'm allowed." He said, defensively.

"Oh my god, what did you do?" Rhea asked, dreading what he was about to say next.

"IresettheHADS." He mumbled, turning away from them.

"Huh?" Clara asked.

"I reset…" He shouted and then mumbled the rest. "The HADS."

"The what?" Rhea asked.

"The HADS! The Hostile Action Displacement System! If the TARDIS comes under attack - gunfire, time-winds, the...sea - it... relocates."

"Relocates to where?" Rhea asked, slowly, closing her eyes in exasperation.

"Haven't used it in donkey's years. Seemed like a good idea at the time." His fingers moved about in the air. "Well, never mind, it's bound to turn up somewhere!" The sonic screwdriver hummed. "Ooh!" He made a sound and reached for the screwdriver in his coat pocket. Ha, see, right on cue! Brilliant!"

Rhea smiled at the use of the word.

"Brilliant!" Clara repeated less enthusiastically.

"The TARDIS is at the Pole!" The Doctor said.

"Not far then." Clara said, taking her hands off the hatch, and started to walked away.

"The South Pole." The Doctor said, grimacing.

Clara stopped. "Ah."

"Oh, Doctor." Rhea groaned, hanging her head.

"Could we have a lift?" The Doctor asked the captain.

The captain and Clara laughed and the professor gave a smile as they went back inside the submarine. The Doctor mocked their laughter by making a face. After they went away, the two watched the spaceship. The Doctor gave a salute and the ship flew away.

"Sweetie," Rhea started, drawing the Doctor's attention as he turned to face her. "You are such a bad driver."

"I am not!"

She reached up to straight his bow-tie, which had become loose after their underwater adventure. "You crashed into the Titanic."

"The Titanic crashed into me!"

She grinned. "You aimed for Las Vegas in 2013 and hit a Soviet submarine in the 80's. Sweetie, you're a bad driver." She said, patting him on the shoulder.

The Doctor couldn't say anything, his face sulky and his lips formed into a pout.

Suddenly, she swore when she tried to move her fingers. They had frozen right to the knuckle and Rhea groaned. "Why is it so cold up here?"

"Serves you right for wearing those shorts." The Doctor said, eyeing her up and down, staring just a bit too long at her long toned legs, uncovered in the middle of the snow.

"If you're done ogling me, alien boy…." Rhea said, playfully.

The Doctor grunted and pulled off his overcoat and placed it over her shoulders. Rhea wrapped it tight around her, reveling in the languorous warmth that seemed to spread through her entire body. She gripped the Doctor's hand tightly, entwining their arms and followed the others back into the submarine.

* * *

A/N: I hoped you all liked my rendition of Cold War and my characterisation of the Doctor and Rhea and Clara. I also hope you liked the little flirting scene between the Doctor and Rhea at the end and the little hints in the chapters about the Doctor's feelings for Rhea. And I just wanted to let you know that Rhea won't be calling the Doctor "sweetie" a lot because I really like it when River says it, Rhea will be mainly calling him "honey", because I see her as a "honey" kind of girl. In a future chapter, the Doctor will explain why Rhea calls him and others "sweetie" (there is actually a reason behind it).

I did have a question for you all though. I would like to hear people's opinions on Rose and River as I know a lot of people have problems with Rose and a lot of people have problems with River as well. I wanted to know what you think they should be like in this story.

Anyways, Read and Review!


	7. Nightmare in Silver: Gold

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Doctor Who doesn't belong to me at all, if it did, I'd have coffee with David Tennant, Matt Smith and Christopher Eccleston on a daily basis.

A/N: Here's another Season 7 chapter for everyone. Nightmare in Silver! I thought it would be interesting to do this episode because I was wondering what the Cyber Planner would blab to Rhea about the Doctor's relationship to her. And, I wanted a bit of humour as well.

As for your reviews about Rose and River, I like River a lot. I think she's both the polar opposite and the exact same as the Doctor. While I do believe that some of the romance between the Doctor and her is forced, I do think they are cute together, but I thought River would just be a friend for the Doctor and Rhea in this one. She's really flirty and so is Rhea, I thought they'd have some really good interactions with each other. I think that Rhea and River would flirt heaps more than the Doctor and River and I really can't wait to write them together.

As for Rose, I'm a bit torn. I used to love Rose, and I cry almost every time I watch Doomsday, especially the scene where she's banging on the wall. I do have a few problems with Rose though, especially in certain episodes (Specifically Dalek, Father's Day, Boom Town, The Christmas Invasion, School Reunion, Doomsday and The Stolen Earth/Journey's End), she just seems a bit too jealous and clingy. I always felt like Rose's departure in Doomsday was a good way to end her arc in Doctor Who, plus, I feel like she's the only companion in the New Series that actually got a proper happy ending. Not to mention that I always felt like Rose's dimension cannon started working a little too close to when the Daleks were able to break the Time Lock. In this story, I think Rhea wouldn't take a lot of Rose's crap in those specific episodes. They will be friends, good friends, and Rhea will feel her absence like the Doctor does (when she finds out what happens) but Rhea will stand up to Rose. However, I do plan on writing a Time Lady OC fanfic that starts off in Season 1 that will have a jealous Rose. Let me know if you like the idea. I might put in a sneak peek a couple more chapters later.

* * *

Nightmare in Silver: Gold

The Doctor walked in to see Rhea at the console, pressing a few buttons and pressing down a lever.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, suspiciously.

Rhea looked at him, brightly. "Oh, she's teaching me how to fly her."

"You don't know how to fly her." The Doctor said, slowly and confused. Rhea had always known how to fly the TARDIS. Ever since he had first stolen her from Gallifrey, Rhea had been able to navigate her. This was definitely new.

Rhea frowned and cocked her head. "How would I know?" She asked, smiling nervously.

The Doctor felt like smacking himself on the head. Of course she couldn't know yet, she hadn't been taught yet, the TARDIS would teach her now and she would remember the knowledge in the future.

Rhea paused, as if listening to someone, and looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "Do you leave the brakes on? Is that why she makes that noise every time she materialises and dematerialises?" She asked, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows, expecting an answer.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…"

Rhea shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I knew you were a crappy driver." She scoffed.

"I am not!"

"Of course you aren't, sweetie." Rhea said, patronisingly, and turned her attention back to the TARDIS, who was directing her around the controls of the console.

* * *

"Here." The Doctor said, handing her a flat, chrome laptop.

"You know, this looks remarkably like the one I have at home." Rhea said, turning the flat piece of metal around, frowning when she realised it looked exactly like her own laptop, complete with 'Have No Fear The Psychologist Is Here' laptop skin.

"That's because I got it from your room." The Doctor said, sitting next to her on the comfy plush seat in the library. He pulled a book from the table next to them and flipped to random page and started reading.

She crossed her legs on the seat and leaned back. "I could really get used to this." She said to him and then looked around the massive room. Books had always been a source of comfort for her and this had to be the biggest library she had ever seen.

She shook her head, opened up her laptop and opened up Microsoft Word.

"So, what are you doing?" The Doctor asked, not even attempting to disguise him peeking at the laptop screen.

"I'm writing a note for every one of our adventures. If my laptop comes with me wherever I go, I want to be able to know what I've done and what you've not done, so I don't spill anything I'm not supposed to."

He grinned and threw one of his arms over the back of the couch. "Ah, good idea, I knew you were smart."

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't have had any doubt." She typed in 'Titanic' and put a dash next to it. She paused. "When did we go on the Titanic?" She asked the Doctor, turning to him.

"I don't know. Centuries ago." The Doctor said, nonchalantly, still flipping through the book.

Rhea choked, raised her eyebrows and stared at him. "Seriously?"

He nodded, not missing a beat. Nothing changed in his face to tell her that he was lying or making fun of her.

"Centuries? Really?" Rhea asked. "You were 903 the last time I saw you. Well, the suit-wearing you, at least."

"I'm twelve-hundred and something now."

Rhea swallowed hard, deciding not to read too much into it. "Okay, so, three hundred years have passed since you were on the Titanic. What year was it?" She asked, deciding to ignore the age bit for now.

"Um…" He thought about it. "2007."

Rhea blinked and typed that in next to 'Titanic'. She scrolled down a couple of lines and typed in 'Soviet submarine'. "What year is it now?"

"2013."

"Okay, so not that bad then." She typed in '2013' next to 'Soviet submarine', put a slash and also typed in '1983'. She stared at what she had just typed and groaned, her head falling back against his arm. "I am going to get really confused really quick." Rhea said.

The Doctor hugged her to him, placing a soft kiss on her temple. _He's doing that a lot. I wonder what it means. I wonder if he does that to everyone_. "It's all right if you make a few mistakes, just as long as you don't spill any of the big secrets. You know, the ones that have the potential to change the universe in horrible ways."

She glared at him for his lack of empathy and seriousness about the issue and closed the laptop. She rubbed her eyes and stood up. "Wow, saving the world from Martians from a Soviet submarine in the 1980s really takes it out of a girl."

The Doctor stood up as well. "Are you going to sleep?" He sounded disappointed.

Rhea closed her eyes in exhaustion and wobbled on her feet slightly. She guessed that it must have been the adrenaline that had kept her up for so long. "Yeah, might as well. See you in the morning." She said before walking over to the entrance of the library.

She didn't even make it to the door before a familiar throbbing in her head assaulted her. She groaned, realising what was about to happen and just hoped she'd recognise the Doctor this time as well. Her eyes slammed shut due to the pain and she reached a hand out, hoping that someone would help. Warm, long, masculine fingers fell into her hand and grasped it tightly, fingers entwining immediately, as if it had become second nature, leading Rhea somewhere. She was sat down on a chair and she recognised the hand to be the Doctor's, the Doctor she had just been with. Her eyes fluttered open once the pain had stopped and she met the Doctor's eyes as he had been kneeling in front of her.

"Rhea?" The Doctor asked, his voice low and soothing, which was very beneficial for the hangover-like state her mind had become.

"Yeah?" She murmured, weary, not really wanting to speak much.

"Are you all right?" He asked, cupping her face with his hand.

Unknowingly, she leaned into his hand, desperate for some affection after the onslaught of such pain.

"Are you going to ask me that every time we meet like this, space boy?" Rhea whispered, hoarsely. "Actually, a better question, am I going to be in mind-numbing pain every time I jump?"

His thumb stroked her cheekbone in such a sincere show of genuine worry and affection that it stunned her for a second. She wasn't used to a lot of affection from people, except for her mother, whom she still insisted gave the best hugs. Rhea was usually the one to initiate affectionate contact with people and even that was minimal in the last couple years. She had practically been diagnosed with tactile defensiveness a couple of years ago. She had flinched away from most forms of contact, except for her mother, for a long time. She had only started getting better in the past year. And now, this Time Lord had sauntered into her life and changed her very strict rules. _Pull back, Rhea, not now_. The voice in her head was very clear. She had to back away slowly.

"You're wearing the same clothes you were wearing in the library after the submarine." The Doctor said, suddenly, looking down at her white tank top, red and white patterned tights and red sandals.

Rhea's eyes widened. "Oh, so you've been there." She clapped her hands. "Great, that way I don't spill anything." She looked around, realising that they were in the console room and not in the library as she had been. "Where's Clara?"

"Oh…well, it's Wednesday, she should be here soon."

"Where are we going this time?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not exactly sure, I was going to ask Clara where she wanted to go." He looked at me, his face bright and excited. "Unless, you have somewhere you want to go?"

Rhea scrunched her face up. "No, not really, well, of course, but now's probably not the right time."

"Why?" The Doctor asked, frowning, leaning in close to her.

Rhea leaned in too. "Because Clara's here and she's brought two kids with her as well."

"What?" The Doctor shouted, turning to the blue double doors to the TARDIS, where Clara stood, wearing a leather jacket and a red dress, with two teenagers. The girl looked the oldest, probably thirteen or fourteen, and the boy looked about ten. Rhea remembered Clara telling her that she was a nanny. _These must be the kids she looks after_.Rhea laughed and leaned back on the captain's chair, anxious and excited to see what would happen next.

The Doctor walked up to Clara. "You brought the kids. Why did you bring the kids?" The Doctor hissed at her.

"I couldn't help it!" Clara defended herself. "They saw a picture of us on the Soviet submarine and at Cal-" The Doctor shook his head. "Somewhere else we've been and they know that we're time travellers. They threatened to tell their dad if I didn't take them with me. Just one trip, Doctor, please." She gave the man puppy-dog eyes and the Doctor folded, agreeing. Rhea shook her head. _Idiot_. All of time and space at his fingers and he crumpled after a sad look from a pretty girl.

The Doctor turned to Rhea and glared.

"What did I do?" Rhea asked, offended.

"You taught her that look."

Rhea smirked. "Did I now?" She purred, loving the effect she had on the Time Lord. "Does it work on you?"

The Doctor realised what he had just said, grimaced and walked back to the console. "One trip and one trip, only." He warned, looking at the children, who just grinned at him.

* * *

There was a familiar wheezing and groaning sound as the TARDIS materialised on a rocky moonscape. An American flag was planted in the ground and the Earth hung in the sky above. The door opened and the Doctor stuck his head out, followed by Rhea, who frowned, Clara, Angie and Artie. The Doctor stepped out, his arms wide, and spun around. The others followed him, just a bit slower, and Rhea, a bit wary.

"Well, here we are. Hedgewick's World - the biggest and best amusement park there will ever be-" He pointed at the kids. "-and we've got a golden ticket!" He stepped onto a rock. "Eh? Eh? Fun!"

"Fun?" Clara asked, her eyebrows raised in incredulity.

"Your stupid box can't even get us to the right place. This is, like, a moon base or something." Angie said.

"Hey!" Rhea defended. "Don't diss the TARDIS!"

The Doctor stepped down from a rock and Rhea sat on the one he had just occupied and Clara sat on a different one.

"It's not the moon." The Doctor argued.

"Actually, I think it does look like the moon. Only dirtier." Artie added.

The Doctor picked up sand from the ground and rubbed it between his fingers, examining it closely before letting it fall back down.

"Hey, guys it's not the moon, okay? It's a Spacey Zoomer ride, or it was." The Doctor insisted.

A door opened in one of the larger rocks and a man with grey hair peered out.

"Okay, so rocks with doors, I can deal with that." Rhea muttered, before going over and standing next to the Doctor.

"Psst! 'Scusi" The old man hissed. "I don't suppose you happen to be my lift off planet? Dave's Discount Interstellar Removals?"

"'Fraid not." Clara said.

"Sorry." Rhea shrugged.

"They were meant to be here six months ago. That's Dave for you, see, unreliable."

"Stay where you are!" A woman shouted.

"Oops." The man muttered before ducking back inside.

They all turned around to see a group of soldiers, with a woman heading the platoon, run into the area, guns loaded and aimed at the five of them.

"Throw down your weapons and identify yourselves." The woman ordered.

Rhea saw Clara move herself in front of the children and she stepped closer to the Doctor. The Doctor put one of his hands up and the other was shoved into his coat pocket, pulling out a golden ticket.

"No. No weapons! Golden ticket! Spacey Zoomer?" He bounced on his feet. "Free ice cream?" He tried.

"Who are you? This planet is closed, by Imperial order." The woman said.

Rhea groaned. "Your driving skills cannot be this bad."

"How's this?" He asked, pulling out the black wallet containing his psychic paper and showed it to the female officer.

Her eyes widened as she read the paper and she smiled. "Oh. Welcome, Proconsul. I wish they'd told us you were coming. Any news of the Emperor?"

"Oh, the Emperor…" The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked at Rhea, unsure of what to say next. "No, no, none that you'd, er..."

"We pray for his return. If there is anything you need, my platoon is at your service."

"Right! Righty-oh. Well, carry on, Captain." The Doctor got onto the rock again and saluted the female captain, a gesture which she returned.

"Platoon, let's move out. On the double. Two, three, four! Two, three, four! Two, three, four!" The captain shouted at her troops, who jogged away.

The door in the rock opened again and the old man stuck his head out again.

"Have they gone?" He asked.

Rhea nodded and the Doctor said "Yes."

"Uniforms give me the heebie-jeebies. Come on. They can't stop me being here, but they don't like it." He explained.

They followed the man to the doorway of the ride and paused when they saw what was before them. The Doctor grinned.

"So much for an amusement park." Rhea muttered.

The Doctor ignored her. "Ha, ha! You see? I told you it was amazing." He paused. "Well, it used to be."

They all stared at what seemed to the derelict remains of a large amusement park.

"It closed down. Wish I'd known that before I landed here. But let me show you my collection. Come along, follow me, this way. This way in, come on. Welcome to my show..."

Rhea rolled her eyes as the Doctor dragged her after the man.

* * *

"…Webley's World of Wonders. Miracles, marvels and more await you. I am impresario Webley." He finished and then coughed.

The room the entered was slightly dark and had an eerie feeling to it. There were steps that led down from the entrance into a room that was lined with wax replicas of different alien races. In the centre of the room, there were two worn out couches facing back to back.

Angie and Artie went down the steps into the main room and stared at all the figurines in wonder. The Doctor followed Rhea as she stepped down into the room and walked around and looked at each of the replicas herself.

"You see before you waxwork representations of the famous... and the infamous." He pulled off the sheet covering one of the figures and the Doctor smiled at Webley's enthusiasm. "Anybody here play chess?" Webley asked.

Rhea watched as the Doctor raised his hand with an eager look on his face.

Webley turned away from the Doctor and looked at Artie. "Perhaps you, young man?"

"Actually, I'm in my school chess club." Artie replied.

The Doctor sighed and lowered his hand. Rhea linked his arm with hers and bumped her hip against his.

"Ah, follow me." Webley said to Artie and took them to another room.

In the centre of the red-tinted room, there was a chess table with an empty chair on one side and a drape-covered figure on the other side.

"Now, let me demonstrate to you all the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity. We defeated them all, a thousand years ago. But now he's back, to destroy you. Behold! The enemy!" He murmured and yanked the sheet off the figure to reveal a creature made of metal with half a handle coming out of one ear.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Cyberman! Get down!" He shouted, yanking Rhea, Clara and the children down.

The Cyberman raised its head.

Webley popped up from behind the Cyberman, his hands on the Cyberman's shoulders.

"No need to panic, my young friends. We all know there are no more living Cybermen. What you are seeing is a miracle - the 699th wonder of the universe. As displayed before the Imperial court, and only here to destroy you - at chess! Careful now. An empty shell. And yet it moves. How?"

The Doctor moved around so that he was next to the Cyberman. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and examined the metal man while Webley was talking.

"Magic." Angie said, sarcastically, and Rhea smirked.

"That might well be, young lady. A single penny wins you five Imperial shillings if you can beat this empty shell at chess."

The Doctor leaned on the table.

"I haven't got a penny. But I've got a sandwich." Artie said, holding up a small white square piece of bread.

"All right, take a seat." Webley said, accepting the sandwich.

Clara pulled out the chair and Artie sat.

Webley opened the panel underneath the table. "It is free of all devices, and yet it has never been beaten. Would you like to make the first move, young man?"

Artie moved a pawn and the Cyberman made a move, all jerky-like. Artie made his second move.

"Oh, no, Artie. No, don't do that, it... It's a fool's mate." The Doctor said, shaking his head.

The Cyberman checkmated Artie.

"If you can tell me how it works, I'll give you a silver penny." Webley offered, taking a bite out of the sandwich.

"I think…" Angie started nervously. "You do it with mirrors."

The Doctor, who was staring at the wall, turned back and looked at Angie with a look of pride. "Hmm, mirrors, clever girl." Angie gave a small smile. "Well, let's see, hey?" He examined the workings of the Cyberman. "Low tech. It's a puppet, monofilament strings, which means the brains are in..." The Doctor popped open a panel to a reveal a small-statured man inside with a remote control.

"Hello." The Doctor said.

"Hello. I'm the brains." The man said, deciding that the jig was up.

"Hello."

"Give us a hand." The man said.

The Doctor held out his hand and the man used it to pull himself out of the box.

"They call me Porridge. Ah, it's good to be out of that box."

"For you, miss…" Webley addressed Angie, reaching behind her ear. "An imperial penny." He said, giving her the coin.

The Doctor and Rhea leaned against the wall, watching the exchange with small smiles, when the Doctor suddenly straightened, watching bugs crawling on the wall opposite.

"What is it?" Rhea whispered.

"Nothing." The Doctor said, frowning at the wall.

* * *

They walked back into the main room and Webley removed a drape from another Cyberman.

"I have not one but THREE cybermen in my collection." Webley told the Doctor.

He scanned the empty black eyes with his sonic screwdriver, frowning when he detected nothing. Angie saw a replica of a tall man dressed in robes and ermine and looking very much like a Roman emperor.

"Is that the king?" Angie asked Porridge.

"Emperor." He corrected. "Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, etc, etc, the 41st - defender of humanity, imperator of known space." He introduced, looking at the statue.

"He looks a bit full of himself." Rhea commented.

Porridge looked at her. "Don't say things like that about the Imperial family - you can end up on the run for the rest of your life."

"They don't sound very nice." Angie said.

"Go on. If the kids want to ride the Spacey Zoomer, then I can operate the gravity console." Porridge told Clara.

Clara hugged Artie with one arm and walked out with him, followed by Porridge and the Doctor and Rhea. Rhea looked back and saw Angie frown, looking between the penny in her hand and the statue. Artie came back for her.

"Angie!" Artie said, tapping her on the shoulder, and they left the room.

* * *

Angie and Artie were floating in the air as Porridge and Clara looked on.

"Whoa!" Artie shouted as he moved about in the air.

"Smile! Say, "Spacey Zoomer!" Clara said, holding her camera phone out.

"We're flying!" Artie shouted.

"Having a good time?" The Doctor asked, smiling from where he was leaning against the TARDIS with Rhea, and making two 'thumbs-up' signs with his hands.

The children laughed as they had fun in the air. Porridge turned off the anti-gravity and children floated gently back to the ground. Clara, Rhea and the Doctor walked over to them.

"I think that was the most fun I've had in my whole life." Artie said, happily.

"It was…" The Doctor looked on, expectantly. "Okay."

The Doctor made a face and his shoulders slumped after he heard Angie's reaction and he walked away, scanning the area.

"Clara? I think outer space is actually very interesting." Artie said.

"Right, wonderful day out, Doctor, but it's time to get the kids home." Clara said, heading to the TARDIS.

"Yeah. Um, no. Not actually read to leave." The Doctor said, staring at the ground and Rhea walked over to him, slowly, dreading what was going to happen next.

"Why not?" Clara asked, confused.

"I dunno." The Doctor shrugged, not willing to give anything away. "Reasons."

"What reasons?" Clara asked, becoming suspicious.

"Insects." The Doctor said and Rhea groaned. "Funny insects. I should add them to my funny insect collection."

Rhea raised an eyebrow, coming to stand next to the Doctor. "You have a funny insect collection?" She asked, bumping her arm with his.

"Yeah, I'm starting to. Right now."

* * *

"How long do we have to stay here?" Angie asked, her head falling back onto the armrest of the sofa she was currently lying across.

"Not long. Have a nap. I'll wake you when we're ready to leave." He said before leaving and turning off the lights as he passed.

"Sleep well." Clara whispered.

"G'night, guys!" Rhea murmured, winking at them, before following the Doctor out.

"Good night." Porridge said and he and Clara left the room, following the other two.

Artie sipped his water and was about to set it on a table by the couch when the Doctor re-entered. He was holding the sonic screwdriver under his chin, the green light casting an eerie glow, not unlike a flashlight under someone's face when they were about to tell a scary story.

"Don't wander off. I'm not just saying, "don't wander off" - I MEAN it. Otherwise you'll wander off, and the next thing you know, somebody's going to have to start rescuing somebody." His voice became a low murmur.

"From what?" Angie asked, getting a bit scared.

"Nothing. Nobody needs rescuing from anything. Don't wander off." He smiled. "Sweet dreams."

Suddenly, Rhea grabbed the back of the Doctor's coat and yanked him out of the room, not before apologising to the children on his behalf for scaring them for no reason.

* * *

Clara walked with Porridge along disused tracks for what was either a ride or a form of transport around the park, while the Doctor and Rhea were ahead of them, inspecting and scanning.

"Was this really the biggest amusement park in the universe?" Clara asked Porridge.

"Yeah. Hedgewick bought the planet cheap. It'd been trashed in the Cyber-Wars."

"Who were we fighting?"

"Cybermen. Technologically upgraded warriors. We couldn't win. Sometimes we fought to a draw, but then they'd upgrade themselves, fix their weaknesses and destroy us. It's hard to fight an enemy that uses your armies as spare parts."

"Cybermen. Do you know them?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, we've met a couple of times." The Doctor said, giving her a wry grin. "I'm sure you'll meet them soon, anyway."

Rhea shook her head and made a face. "That is so not reassuring."

He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her to him, making her grin a bit for a moment, before she wiped her face of any expression.

"You beat them, though - beat them or you wouldn't be here. How?" Clara asked Porridge, curious.

They stopped at the edge of the hangar and Porridge pointed to the sky.

"Look up there - that corner of the sky. What do you see?"

There was a bright ring of light surrounding a circle of black nothingness.

"Nothing. It's just black. No stars, no nothing." Clara said.

"Used to be the Tiberion Spiral Galaxy. A million star systems. A hundred million worlds. A billion trillion people. It's not there anymore. No more Tiberion galaxy. No more Cybermen. It was effective."

"It's horrible." Clara said, blankly.

"Yeah. I feel like a monster sometimes."

"Why?" She asked, turning to him.

"Because instead of mourning a billion trillion dead people, I just feel sorry for the poor blighter who had to press the button and blow it all up."

The Doctor looked out onto the park through the empty shell of the piece he was examining. He placed his magnifying glass in the empty shell and they both looked through it, watching the park.

Rhea groaned as she saw two small figures going into the barracks.

"Clara! Did you tell Angie she could go to the barracks?" The Doctor shouted over to Clara.

"You know I didn't!" Then she turned to look at them. "She didn't…"

Rhea hung her head in exasperation. "She's just gone in there."

"Come on." Clara said, grabbing both of their hands.

* * *

They followed the trail they had seen through the magnifying glass to the barracks. Clara stormed in, ahead of them, and strode over to Angie.

"Angie, Angie!" She shouted.

"She has to turn up and spoil everything! I wasn't doing anything! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Angie shouted with all the attitude of a teenage girl who didn't get her way.

There was a crash and the doors burst open with a bang. Everyone turned and saw a Cyberman standing in the doorway.

"Cyberman!" The captain shouted.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the Cyberman as the soldiers scrambled for weapons and cover.

"Angie!" The Doctor shouted, pulling the three females behind him.

"Attack formation!" The captain yelled to her troops.

The Cyberman stepped forward, his movements practically a blur. One of the soldiers attempted to attack it bare-handed.

"No!" The captain shouted.

The Doctor pulled Rhea and Clara to cover and one of the soldiers handed the captain a gun as they took cover.

"Attack formation – quickly!" The captain ordered.

They fired at the Cyberman, which was hit but the force barely knocked it.

"Upgrade in progress!" The Cyberman said in its computerised voice.

The Doctor used the screwdriver on the Cyberman.

"Angie!" Clara shouted as the Cyberman moved so quickly that it seemed as if time stood still. It headed straight for the teenager, picking her up and putting her over its shoulder while the girl screamed. They had disappeared before anyone could even turn around.

"Clara!" Rhea shouted and grabbed her hand, pulling her back.

"That was a Cyberman! But they're extinct." The captain said, confused, walking away from the Doctor, Rhea and Clara.

"Listen to me, we will get her back." The Doctor told Clara and walked over to the captain. "Captain, a word, please." He said, agitated. "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I take it your platoon doesn't do much fighting?"

The captain made a face and hung her head. "What do you expect?" She asked, defensively.

Rhea groaned. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Clara asked, incredulously.

"We're a punishment platoon. It's why they sent us out here, so we can't get into trouble." The captain explained, embarrassment colouring her tone.

The Doctor grimaced and his hands clenched in the air. "Ah, right, right, well, OK. As Imperial Consul," He took the gold badge rank off the captain's uniform and pinned it on Clara's leather jacket. "I am putting Clara in charge. Clara, stay alive until we get back, and don't let anyone blow up this planet." He snapped his fingers, took Rhea's hand, and turned to walk away.

"Is that something they're likely to do?" Clara asked.

The two kept walking. "Get to somewhere defensible."

"Where are YOU going?" Clara asked.

They stopped and turned around. "We're getting Angie, finding Artie and looking for funny insects. Stay alive. And you lot," He looked at the captain and her troops. "No blowing up this planet!"

He turned to leave but Rhea tugged his hand, making him stop. He looked at her, questioningly, but she just turned and walked back over to the captain.

"By any chance, do you have a gun?" Rhea asked the captain, smiling.

The captain looked shocked and the Doctor stepped up to her.

"Why do you need a gun?" He whispered.

Rhea rolled her eyes and took the gun that the captain offered her. "It's an alpha meson blaster. I don't know how good it'll do against a Cyberman though." The captain said.

She looked at the weapon. It was slightly bulkier than a normal pistol and was ivory white. She looked over it and decided it was good enough for her right now. "Alpha what?" She asked the captain before the Doctor grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the barracks.

"Alpha what?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

"Alpha meson. It's a type of energy. Why did you take a gun? I have a sonic screwdriver."

Rhea snorted. "Really, so if a Cyberman attacks us, you're what? Going to build a cabinet while I get murdered?"

"I see now where she gets it from. And the same gun as well." He mumbled.

Rhea stopped and looked at him. "Where who gets what from?"

"Spoilers." He shrugged. "You didn't answer my question." He looked pointedly at the blaster in her hands. "Why did you take a gun?"

"Guns make me feel safe." Rhea murmured and then brightened. "Plus, I'm a really good shot." She said, waving the gun in the air.

"I know that." The Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "But what-"

"Would this work on a Cyberman?" Rhea interrupted, holding up the blaster.

The Doctor frowned, scratching the back of his beck. "I'm not actually sure. They could upgrade before the blaster would work." He looked straight at her, as if reading her mind. "You're planning on keeping it, aren't you?

Rhea shrugged. "Oh well, it might come in handy later." Rhea said, grinning and tucking the blaster into the back of her tights, knowing the bagginess of her white top would hide the bulge, at least until she could get into the TARDIS and get a holster for the gun. "How does it work?"

"You pull the trigger."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? Just pull the trigger?"

"You get about twenty shots before it drains out of power. Then, you have to wait sixty seconds for it to recharge." The Doctor explained.

"What does it run on?" Rhea asked, curiously. An intergalactic gun sent all sorts of shivers down her spine.

"Alpha meson energy, it's…" The Doctor proceeded to explain the history of alpha meson energy and its uses in present day society and Rhea shockingly found herself listening to every word he was saying.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea found their way back to the room in which they had left Artie in to find the boy missing and the lights on.

"Artie?" Rhea called out, but there was no answer. "Oh god, it's like the opening to a really bad slasher flick."

They ran down the stairs and the Doctor saw one of the insects on a table near the couches. He leaned over and started talking to it.

"Firstly, if anybody's watching this, those children are under my protection. I'm coming to get them. And secondly... little metal machine... you are beautiful." He said, his lips forming a smile. Rhea rolled her eyes at his badly timed enthusiasm. He scanned the insect with his sonic before picking it up by the tail. "Not even a Cybermat any more, eh? Cybermites?" He set it in his palm.

They entered the chess room, the Doctor holding the Cybermite up on his palm. They saw that the Cyberman was missing, the cloth that once covered it was draped over the chair.

"Hold on to me." The Doctor ordered Rhea and she wrapped an arm around his waist, while he used the screwdriver on the Cybermite. "Now... there's a local transmat link open to your home. If I can just find the frequency..." He held up the screwdriver and they disappeared in a flash of light.

They appeared in the Cybermen base.

"Hey, that really shouldn't have worked." The Doctor said.

"Doctor, help us." They heard Angie say in a mono-toned voice.

"Angie! Artie!" They ran over to the children and saw a blinking implant attached to the side of their heads by their ears.

"Crap." Rhea hissed, looking into their eyes for any sign of emotion but only seeing emptiness. She was vaguely reminded of the Cyberman's eyes and prayed intently that this wasn't that bad.

The Doctor scanned the children with the sonic screwdriver and turned to see Webley standing by the side, with metal circuitry encasing one side of his face.

"Webley?" The Doctor said, cautiously.

The old man walked out from the shadows. "We needed children, but the children had stopped coming. You brought us children. Hail to you, the Doctor, saviour of the Cybermen!" Webley then saluted by putting his right hand to his chest in a fist.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea stood opposite to Webley across a small table in the centre of the room.

"As the battle raged between humanity and the Cyberiad, the Cyber-Planners built a Valkyrie, to save critically damaged units and bring them here and, one by one, repair them."

"The people who vanished from the amusement park…they were spare parts for repairs."

Rhea grimaced. "That is disgusting."

"We've upgraded ourselves. The next model will be undefeatable."

"Nothing's undefeatable." The Doctor said.

Webley walked over to the children but the Doctor and Rhea got there first, placing their hands protectively on them.

"We needed children to build a new Cyber-Planner. A child's brain, with its infinite potential, is perfect for our needs. But we no longer need the children. The Cybermites have been scanning YOUR brain, Doctor. It's quite remarkable." He started walking towards the Doctor, who backed away. Rhea didn't budge from her spot behind the children, deciding to watch what happens next.

"Also completely useless to you. Cybermen use human parts. I'm not human. You can't convert non-humans."

"Well, that was true a long time ago. But we've upgraded ourselves. Current Cyber units use almost any living components." Webley opened his hands to reveal his palms crawling with Cybermites. Rhea's eyes widened as he threw them at the Doctor. They crawled up his form and into him.

"Doctor!" Rhea shouted, rushing over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. The Doctor cried out in pain as he was bent over backwards against the table while he was 'upgraded'. He stood up with a gasp after a minute when the process was completed. He had metal webbing across the left side of his face and Rhea gave a harsh sound and backed away, keeping her eyes on the 'upgraded' version of the Doctor.

"Incorporated. Yes." The Doctor said in a deeper voice than usual. "Yes." He patted himself down. "Unfamiliar pulmonary set-up. Nervous system hyperconductive. Remarkable brain processing speed." He laughed. "Amazing!"

The Doctor's body jerked. "Get out my head!" The Doctor said in his normal voice.

Rhea's hand covered her mouth as she realised that the Doctor was fighting against the Cyber Planner in his head.

* * *

The Doctor stood opposite to the Cyber Planner version of him in a neutral space witn numerous equations and formulae floating around. The Doctor's side was a warm brown with symbols in a long-forgotten language etched in, while the Cyber Planner's was an icy blue with equations inscribed all over. The Doctor strode over to confront his 'unwanted guest', while pictures of Clara in the last three versions he had encountered her flashed behind them.

"Stop rummaging in my mind!" The Doctor shouted.

"Just you try and stop me. Ooh, who's Clara? Why are you thinking about her so much? You should be thinking about that pretty thing in white over there. She's the one trapped with me." The Cyber Planner purred.

The Doctor growled. "Enough!" He shouted, making sure to block any thoughts of Rhea from the Cyber Planner, and unwillingly pushing his uncertainties about Clara's identity to the forefront.

"Fascinating. A complete mental block. Highly effective." The Cyber Planner praised.

* * *

The Cyberdoctor whirled around.

"Relax, relax. If you just relax, you will find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You are being upgraded and incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyber-Planner."

He jerked again. "Get out of my head!"

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you all liked the first part of Nightmare in Silver. I hope everyone liked the beginning, with Rhea learning how to drive the TARDIS. I hope it wasn't too quick. Her relationship with the TARDIS will be explained in another episode, which I'm still not sure when I'll get to. There is something there, I promise. And Rhea finally got a gun. I've been waiting for this moment for awhile. She has a bit of a gun kink. And, did you notice the River reference too?I hope everyone wasn't too disappointed with another Season 7 episode, Rhea will be meeting 9 and 10 after this. And Rhea will be in the next chapter more, especially with her interactions with the Cyberdoctor. Let's see what the Cyberdoctor spills, huh?

Oh, and a question, Rhea needs to turn into something that can match her lifespan with the Doctor's, how does she do it? Bad Wolf? Fob watch? Perception filter? Become like Jack? What are your thoughts?

Read and Review!


	8. Nightmare in Silver: Personality Disorde

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor who, if I did, I'd have the 9th Doctor, 10th Doctor and the 11th Doctor trapped in my closet (too much?)

A/N: Here's the final chapter of Nightmare on Silver! I can't wait to see your reactions to Mr. Clever and Rhea. And thank you so much for the reviews, more reviews this chapter than any other previously. Most people wanted Rhea becoming like Jack, and I was leaning that way for her but I felt a bit conflicted about the aging bit, if you go with the idea that Jack is the Face of Boe. Plus, the Doctor will die one day, when he runs out of regenerations, and Rhea won't. I do sort of have a plan for what will happen between Rhea and Bad Wolf, so you'll all just have to bear with me. There are at least seventy chapters between this one and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, so it'll be awhile, but please keep giving your opinions on it, I do take them into consideration.

Specific notes on reviews:

Shreba: Thank you so much for your review for Chapter 6. I agree with you about River, I think she would flirt with them both and Rose would be jealous, but I think she'll get over it sometime later in Season 2, I want her to be a positive figure in Season 4, because she wants to get back to both of them, not just the Doctor. As for your review for your last chapter, she's still completely human now, and she will be for awhile, she needs a catalyst to make her a non-human. Her timeline's kind of like River's, it's just kind of intertwined around the Doctor's

Kotobukiis: I think you're right about Rose, I'd think Rose would feel jealous that the Doctor pays just that extra bit of attention to Rhea, as opposed to her. Rhea won't take any of it though, and it would only last about one and a half seasons. River and the Doctor will only be friends in this story, good friends, but totally platonic. The same maybe cannot be said about River and Rhea.

Kate Elizabeth Black: I'm actually a little bit confused about your review. I will be doing Human Nature before Bad Wolf, so if I do give Rhea a fob watch, that episode might give her the hint that something's wrong. However, I don't like the fob watch because I feel like I should have mentioned it, at least in passing, at the beginning. It just sounds a bit surreal if Rhea suddenly says "Oh, yeah, I've had this pocket watch my entire life and I just forgot to tell you about it."

Alex Wolfe: I will put up a snippet of my OC Time Lady story after a couple of chapters, so stick around. I never really liked Rose's character in Season 1, I felt like she got better during the second half of Season 2, but I never approved of her actions during Season 4. Rhea will call her out on some of her actions, especially in Father's Day, The Christmas Invasion, School Reunion and Doomsday.

Imou: I'm glad you think so! She does act a bit immature. I hate it when people use the excuse that she's only nineteen. I mean, I don't think even a fifteen year old would abandon her mother and leave her alone like that for so long.

Grapejuice101: No, he won't, he's just going to try and screw with her head.

I-Am-Annabel-Lee: See, I don't think they'd have that painful stage, because the Doctor's known Rhea for so long, he'd probably be used to it by now. If I ever end up writing the Doctor's first meeting with Rhea, back on Gallifrey, that would be very painful. Rhea would be in love with him, but she'd make his skin crawl.

YingWhiteyWolf - Thank you so much for your review! As for what happens to Rhea in 'Bad Wolf', I don't want to say too much in case I spoil it for you, but you're getting kind of close to what I had planned. I'm so glad you like my story, I know the idea's been done before, I just wanted to give my interpretation on what would happen if someone from the Doctor Who universe had that happen to her, so she wouldn't actually know what would happen in each episode. As for the psychologist bit, I am trying, but unfortunately, I don't know enough about psychology to write it realistically, at least, in my opinion. I can keep trying, hopefully I might get better.

haleyrayxx - Thanks for your input!

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts

* * *

Nightmare in Silver: Personality Disorder

"_Relax, relax. If you just relax, you will find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You are being upgraded and incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyber-Planner."_

_He jerked again. "Get out of my head!"_

"What is this place? A network? A hive? You're getting signals from every Cyberman everywhere. How many of you are there?" The Doctor asked the Cyber Planner.

* * *

"Oh... this is brilliant! I'm so clever already, and now I'm a million times more clever." The Cyberdoctor spun across the room and Rhea pushed herself against the wall, hoping she would go on unnoticed, at least until she could figure out what to do. "And what a brain! Not a human brain, not even slightly human." He leaned against the table. "I mean, I'll have to completely rewrite the neural interface, but this is going to be the most efficient Cyber-Planner!" He leapt onto the table, his arms outstretched and he grimaced. "Not a great name, that, is it? I could call myself Mr Clever." His voice was a low growl. "So much raw data... Time Lords. There's information on the _Time Lords_ in here! Oh, this is just dreamy!"

* * *

"Right, I'm allowing you access to memories on Time Lord regeneration." The Doctor told The Cyberdoctor as pictures of all the Doctor's past regenerations flashed behind them.

"Fantastic!" The Cyberdoctor shouted, clapping his hands.

"I could regenerate now. Big blast of regeneration energy, burn out any little Cyber widgets in my brain, along with everything you're connected to. Don't want to. Use this me up, who knows what we'll get next?" The Doctor shrugged. "But I can." He pointed at The Cyberdoctor.

* * *

"Stalemate, then." The Cyberdoctor said, striding across the room. "One of us needs to control this head. We're too well-balanced."

The Doctor's body twitched as he regained control. "What did you say? No, no, no, I heard you. Rhetorical device to keep me thinking about it a bit more. Stalemate."

He looked at Rhea, who was still pressed up against the wall, shock and hesitancy obvious on her face. "It's okay, Rhea." He said, softly, trying to show that it really was him. "Everything's going to be fine. I have a plan."

Rhea nodded and stepped away from the wall and went back over to the children.

* * *

"We each control 49.881% of this brain. 0.238 of the brain is still in the balance. Whoever gets this gets the whole thing." The Cyberdoctor said.

"Do you play chess?" The Doctor asked, a small smile playing on his face.

"The rules of chess are in my memory banks. You're proposing we play chess to end the stalemate?"

"Winner takes all. Nobody can access that portion of the brain without winning the game." The Doctor proposed and the two shook hands.

* * *

"You can't win!" The Cyberdoctor shouted.

His body jerked.

"Try me." The Doctor said, his voice a low growl.

His body jerked again.

"You understand, when I DO win, the Cyberiad gets your brains and memories. All of it."

His body jerked.

"When I win, you get out of my head, you let the children go, and nobody dies. You got that? Nobody dies!" He shouted.

* * *

A chess board had been set up on the table that was in the middle of the Cybermen base.

"There. That was easy." Mr. Clever said.

"The game…has just started." The Doctor said, moving a white piece.

Rhea rushed to him. "You're seriously going to beat the Cyberman in your head through a chess game?" She asked, incredulously

"Yes." He said, looking at her, before his body jerked again and Rhea backed away.

"Doctor... why is there no record of you anywhere in the databanks of the Cyberiad?" Mr Clever moved his black knight. "Oh. You're good. You've been eliminating yourself from history. You know, you could be reconstructed by the hole you've left."

"Good point. I'll do something about that." He said and moved his white knight.

* * *

"The rules of chess allow only a finite number of moves. And I can use other Cyber units as remote processors. You cannot possibly win." Mr. Clever said in an angry growl.

"I can. I know things you don't. For example, did you know... very early versions of the Cyber operating system could be seriously scrambled by exposure to things, like gold or cleaning fluid? And what's interesting is, you're still running some of that code." The Doctor's voice was a cunning whisper.

"Really? That's your secret weapon? Cleaning fluid?" Mr. Clever mocked.

* * *

"Nope. Gold." The Doctor said and slapped the gold ticket on metal webbing on his face. "Ho-ho! Like a charm. Right, you, Rhea and you, Cyber... Webley. And you, kid... things. I'll bring the chessboard. Let's get out of here." He said, sweeping the chess pieces into his arms.

"It's really you, then." Rhea asked, coming up to him and putting a hand on his arm.

He turned to her and looked at her with those soulful grey eyes of his. "It's really me, Rhea." He said, earnestly, grabbing her hand, bringing it up to his lips and kissing her palm.

Rhea exhaled. "Good."

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea made their way to the castle. Webley, Angie and Artie were following them when soldiers suddenly surrounded them. He held the chessboard in front of face and pulled Rhea behind his back, who hissed at being treated like a little girl, pulling out the blaster she had yet to use and keeping it by her side.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" He shouted, lowering the chessboard. "We're nice! Please, don't shoot!" Rhea noticed Clara and pointed it out to him. "Hey, Clara, you haven't let them blow up the planet. Good job." The Doctor told her.

Clara rushed up to them. "Did you get the kids? Are they all right? What's going on?"

"Bit of a good news/bad news/good news again thing going on." The Doctor started.

"Bit of an understatement, I think." Rhea muttered but bit her lip when the Doctor glared at her.

"So... Good news - I've kidnapped their Cyber-Planner, and right now I'm sort of in control of this Cyberman."

"Bad news?" Clara asked, warily.

"Bad news - the Cyber-Planner's in my head. And DIFFERENT bad news - the kids are... Well, it's complicated."

"Complicated how?" Clara asked through gritted teeth.

"Complicated, as in walking coma." The Doctor said, nervously, before hiding behind the chessboard once again and ducking behind the children. Clara hurried forward and looked at the two children in shock, her eyes wide. She raised her large gun, which was glowing red.

"Please tell me you can wake them up." Clara asked the Doctor.

"Hope so." The Doctor said in a sing-song voice.

"Other good news?" Clara asked, feeling a headache start to come on. Rhea moved over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling the girl to her.

"It'll be fine, Clara, the Doctor will fix the kids." Rhea murmured and then glared at the Doctor. "Won't he?" She growled.

The Doctor backed away from the both. Clara was holding a big angry gun and Rhea was angry and when Rhea got angry, she got violent, and she had brand new shiny gun she hadn't tested out yet. "Well, in other good news, there are a few more repaired and reactivated Cybermen on the way. And the Cyber-Planner's installing a patch for the gold thing." He paused and frowned. "No, wait, that isn't not good news, is it? Um, so... Good news –" He held the chessboard above his head and smiled. "I have a very good chance of winning my chess match."

Clara lowered her gun in confusion. "What?"

"I'll explain later. In a bit of a hurry." He started up the drawbridge. Rhea groaned and ran after him. "Get me to a table." He stopped and turned back to the soldiers. "And somebody tie me up! Need hands free for chess." He said, waggling his hands in the air. He started and turned around again. "And immobilise me. Quickly." His voice was dead serious now and he ran into the castle.

The soldiers just stood there.

"He meant now!" Rhea shouted, snapping her fingers at them, and smirked when they all hurried away. _Oh, I've still got it_.

* * *

The Doctor had set up the chessboard on a table in front of the throne. Rhea tied him to the chair, making sure to leave his hands free.

"You know, when I thought about ropes and you and me, I never pictured quite this context." She purred into his ear and stifled a laugh when he blushed.

The Doctor cleared his throat, willing the flush on his cheeks to die down. "Right, that's good." He said, hoarsely. "I won't be able to move, but... hands free. Good."

"You're playing chess with yourself?" Clara asked, coming up to the two of them.

"And winning." The Doctor said.

The Doctor's hand raised and ripped off the golden ticket that was stuck to his face.

"Actually, he has no better than a 25% chance of winning at this stage in the game. Some very dodgy moves at the beginning. Hello, flesh-girls. Fantastic! I'm the Cyber-Planner." The Cyber Planner growled, smiling.

"Doctor?" Clara asked, nervously, stepping forwards, but Rhea blocked her with a hand across her rib-cage.

"Don't! He's not the Doctor!" Rhea hissed.

"Afraid not. I'm working the mouth now. Allons-y!" Rhea grimaced when she heard the patented catchphrase of her blue suit-wearing Doctor. "Oh, you should see the state of these neurons - he's had some cowboys in here. Ten complete re-jigs."

"You aren't the Doctor." Clara said, her voice a bit stronger.

"No, but I know who YOU are. You're the impossible girl. Ooh, he's very interested in you." The Cyber Planner purred.

"Why am I impossible?" Clara asked, folding her arms.

"Don't listen to him, Clara." Rhea said, narrowing her eyes at the Cyber Planner.

"Why am I impossible?" Clara turned to Rhea and asked her.

Rhea grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her away from the Cyberdoctor. "Okay, first of all, me? You're asking me? Me? The woman who's literally met you _three_ times!" Rhea saw Clara falter and she softened her tone. "Clara, you can't listen to him. He's only trying to screw with your head."

They walked back over to the Cyberdoctor. "Hasn't he told you? The sly devil. Oh, dear me. Soon, we wake, we'll strip you down for spare parts, then build a spaceship and move on."

Rhea stared him down. "You know, with what you just said, if you changed the words around a bit, it'd be really good bedroom talk." Rhea said, lightly.

The Cyberdoctor's eyes glinted at her. "Ooh, it's you, the girl who never stands still. There isn't much information on you in here." He pointed to his head. "The Doctor's keeping you all locked up. His golden girl. He's scared I'll tell you the truth."

Rhea frowned. "The truth about what?" She demanded, crossing her arms and hugging herself.

"Are there more Cybermen?" Clara asked the Cyberdoctor quickly, knowing that the real Doctor wouldn't want Rhea to know whatever he was keeping hidden.

Rhea glared at Clara, but she ignored it.

"They're waking from their tomb right now. You can either die or live on as one of us." The Cyberdoctor said.

"The Doctor will stop you." Clara said certainly.

Rhea heard a scratching sound and frowned. She looked down to see the Doctor's hand writing something on a notepad. She looked closer, as inconspicuously as possible, to see the words 'HIT ME' written across the paper.

"He can't even access the lips." The Cyberdoctor hissed.

Rhea reached out and slapped him across the face.

"Owwww!" The Doctor shouted, jerking back. "Ow! Oh, that hurt! No, stop! Enough! Bit of pain, neural surge - just what I needed. Thanks."

Rhea snorted. "You're lucky all I did was slap you."

Clara looked angry, especially with her folded arms. "Why am I the impossible girl?"

"It's a thing in my head. I'll explain later." The Doctor said, hurriedly.

"Chess game – stakes?" Clara asked.

"If he wins, I give up my mind and he gets access to all my memories, along with knowledge of time travel. But if I win, he'll break his promises to get out of my head and then kill us anyway." The Doctor said the last part as if it were no problem at all.

"Well, that's reassuring." Rhea said, sarcastically.

"No."

"Please tell me you can fix what happened to the children." Clara pleaded, her hands pressing the table.

"Children. Yeah. They're fine. I mean, right now their brains are just in stand-by mode."

"That is not fine!" Rhea growled.

"Listen, right now, they have a better chance of getting out of this situation alive than you do." The Cyberdoctor murmured.

"Which one of you said that?" Clara asked.

"Me. Cyber-Planner. Mr Clever. Now, if you don't mind, I have a…" He poked Clara on the forehead. "…chess game to finish. And YOU have to die… pointlessly and very far from home. Toodle-oo." He said, waving mockingly.

Clara left but Rhea just simply pulled a chair over and sat opposite to him.

"You're not going to leave, are you?" The Doctor asked her, taking control back from the Cyber Planner.

Rhea shook her head, grinning. "No way in hell, honey."

* * *

The chess match continued. Rhea didn't know much about chess. She had the rules explained to her a thousand times before and she still didn't remember them, but even she had to admit that watching a centuries old Time Lord play chess with an evil Cyberman version of himself was pretty amazing.

The Doctor moved a white piece before he jerked back in his seat.

* * *

"Stop that! I felt that!" The Doctor shouted, jerking in his own mind.

"Of course you did. It's time to get up. Wakey wakey, boys and girls. Wakey wakey." The Cyberdoctor murmured in a sing-song voice.

* * *

The Doctor smiled at Clara when she entered the room again. Clara checked the children's responses by snapping her fingers in front of their fingers. She sighed and walked up to the throne, standing behind Rhea, her hands on the chair.

"Hey! Clara, there you are. Now, quick rundown. What's our weapons strength?" The Doctor asked.

"One big gun, five of those hand pulsar units and a shiny black bomb that implodes the planet." Clara answered.

"Yeah, yeah, that one. Now, tell me, does it happen, possibly, to have a remote triggery thing?"

Clara pulled the black thin trigger from her pocket and held it up.

"Brilliant. Pass it here."

"Clara, no!" Rhea shouted, standing up and walking over to the table.

"Why not?" The Doctor looked at her.

"In case you're not you right now. Or even if you are you, just in case." Clara explained.

"Oh, don't worry." The Doctor leaned in and shared a conspiratorial whisper. "he Cyber-Planner's hibernating between moves right now. Sssh."

"Prove you're you. Tell me something only the Doctor knows." Rhea said, leaning over.

"Rhea…I suppose… I'm the only one who knows how I feel about you." The Doctor began.

Rhea grimaced. "Tread carefully, because this may be the last conversation we ever have."

How absolutely perfect you are, and funny, and beautiful, and it's taking all that I am not to just ki-"

Rhea lashed out and smacked him across the face again.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" The Doctor shouted as he jerked yet agin. "Yes! It's me! That really hurt! How did you know that was him?!" The Doctor asked, his voice going squeaky at the end.

"Because you told me you couldn't tell me some things yet." Rhea crossed her arms and looked away from the Doctor. "And I'm willing to wait until you decide the time is right to tell me."

Rhea didn't see the Doctor smile sadly at her or the pain that passed through his eyes.

"Finish the stupid game!" Clara shouted, swinging her right arm at him and the Doctor's left hand reached out and grabbed it.

"Doctor, let go." Clara said, trying to pull herself out of the grip.

Rhea grabbed Clara's wrist and tried to yank her away, but to no avail.

"I can't. He's got control of the left arm." He tried to regain control. "Aaargh! Aaaargh! No! No!" He watched helplessly as the trigger was smashed to pieces against the table. "Aaargh! Aaargh! Aaargh!"

"Doctor?" Clara asked, tentatively.

"He got what he wanted. He destroyed the trigger. My move." The Doctor said, breathless.

"What do you mean, he got what he wanted?" Rhea asked, hesitating.

"He means... good news, boys and girls! THEY'RE HE-ERE!" The Cyberdoctor shouted at the top of his lungs.

* * *

"I've learned so much from you, Doctor. It's been an education. But now it's time for the endgame." The Cyberdoctor said, slamming down the chess pieces.

Rhea watched helplessly at the scene in front of her. Her hand went to the gun currently in the back of her tights as she debated whether or not to use it. She had no idea if it would work on a Cyber Planner, who was fighting for control of a Time Lord. And even if it did, what if the Doctor regenerated? Would the Cyber Planner still be in effect then? But that was all pointless, she didn't know if she could even pull the trigger on him. She didn't think she could. What did that mean?

"They're nearly here. Now, you can take my bishop and keep limping on for a little longer. Or you can sacrifice your queen, and get the children back, but it's mate in five moves. And I get your mind." The Cyberdoctor growled.

The Cyberdoctor jerked.

"Take my queen. And give me back the children." The Doctor hissed, moving his queen.

His body jerked again.

"Emotions! Can't you see what a foolish move that was? You've lost the game!" The Cyberdoctor roared.

The Doctor's body jerked.

"Kids! Back! Now!" The Doctor growled, holding onto the table with clenched fists.

Angie and Artie fell to their knees and Rhea ran over to them, checking their pulse and hanging her head in relief when she heard the steady thumping. She heard the Cyberdoctor make a sound of victory when he took the Doctor's queen and kissed the piece.

"Emotions, Doctor, all for two human children you barely know. And it was a pointless sacrifice anyway. So, Doctor, Miss Rhea... do you think the children's death will affect your relationship with Miss Clara?" The Cyberdoctor asked, grinning.

Rhea saw Porridge run in with the bomb tightly clasped in his hands and he paused when he saw the sight before him.

The metal webbing on Webley's head began to blink light blue furiously and Webley turned to face the children. "Welcome to Webley's World Of Wonders, children. Now presenting delights, delicacies... and death." He said, stalking forwards.

Rhea turned back with wide eyes to see the Cyberdoctor hide a smile behind his hand. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at Webley, her finger on the trigger.

"Doctor!" Angie shouted as Webley came closer.

Rhea was just about to press the trigger when Porridge hurried over and applied his hand pulsar to Webley's leg. Webley kicked Porridge away as a reflex and the man landed at the base of the table holding the chess board. Webley's cybernetics sparked and the Doctor jerked again.

"Angie, are you, okay? Just look after Artie, okay?" The Doctor said, trying to be as soothing as possible.

Angie nodded and both her and Rhea kneeled beside Artie.

Webley turned to face the children again.

"Your move. But before you take it, just so you know, sacrificing my queen was the best possible move I could have made. The Time Lords invented chess. It's our game. And if you don't avoid MY trap, it gives ME mate in three moves."

The Doctor jerked.

"How?" The Cyberdoctor growled.

"Oh, come on. Call yourself a chess-playing robot?" The Doctor asked, mockingly.

"How?" The Cyberdoctor roared.

"You figure it out." The Doctor said, smiling. "Or don't you have the processing power? Hmm?" He said, twiddling with his bow-tie.

The Doctor sensed a change suddenly. "What are you doing?" He asked, slowly.

He jerked.

"Doctor. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor! I'm pulling in extra processing power. Three million Cyberbrains are working on one tiny chess problem. How long do you think it's going to take us to solve it?"

"That's cheating!" The Doctor growled.

"No, no, no, no, no. Just pulling in the local resources." The Cyberdoctor smiled. "There's no way you can get to mate in three moves." He murmured.

The Doctor jerked. "Three moves! Want to know what they are?" The Doctor growled.

"You're lying!" The Cyberdoctor shouted.

"No!" The Doctor said, leaning down and taking the sonic pulsar from Porridge's unconscious hand. "Move one," He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Turn on sonic screwdriver." He turned it on. "Move two, activate pulsar." He used the sonic screwdriver on the pulsar. "Move three, amplify pulsar."

The Doctor slipped the pulsar onto his right hand and lifted it towards his face. His left hand reached across to stop the other, trying to push it away.

"See ya." The Doctor chuckled and placed the pulsar directly onto the cybernetics on his face.

The Doctor's body jerked as the energy coursed through it.

"That's cheating!" The Cyberdoctor shouted.

The cybernetics on his face sparked and he fell face-down onto the table and Rhea rushed to him from her place with the children, Clara a few feet behind her followed by soldiers. The Doctor sat up suddenly, the metal webbing completely erased from his face.

"Just taking advantage of the local resources." He said, throwing the pulsar over his shoulder. "Ah, hello. Can someone untie me, please?"

Rhea's eyes narrowed. "Doctor?"

"It's me, Rhea." The Doctor said.

"Do you want to kiss me?" Rhea asked, raising an eyebrow.

He smirked. "Preferably not with witnesses." He winked at her, only half joking, but Rhea didn't need to know that.

Rhea shrugged, deciding not to think too much of his flirty comment. "That's good enough for me." She ran to the back of the chair and untied the ropes that were holding him there. "What happened to the Cyber Planner?"

"Out of my head and redistributed across three million Cybermen. About to wake them up, kill us and start constructing a spaceship." The Doctor said quickly.

"That does not sound good." Rhea said slowly.

He got up and hurried to the bomb. "We need to destroy this planet before they can get off it. Okay." He scanned the bomb. "It has a fallback voice activation."

Rhea saw Porridge wake and sit up.

"The Captain. But she's dead." One of the soldiers said.

"I think you should ask Porridge." Angie said.

Clara frowned. "Why?"

"Well, he is the Emperor. I bet HE knows the activation codes." Angie said.

Porridge looked down at the floor. Clara looked between Porridge and Angie.

"Oh, come on, it's obvious." Angie said, rolling her eyes. "He looks exactly like he does on the coin and on the waxwork, except they made him a bit taller, but… look, am I the only one paying attention to ANYTHING around here?"

Clara gave the girl a pleased look. "You are full of surprises." She turned to Porridge. "Porridge?"

"She's right." He said.

"So you can save us?"

"We all die in the end. Does it matter how?" Porridge asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor set the bomb in front of Porridge.

"What do we do?" Another soldier asked.

"I don't want to be Emperor. If I activate that bomb, it's all over."

The Doctor let out a low growl. "And if you don't, three million Cybermen will spread across the galaxy. Isn't that worth dying for?"

"Doctor…" Porridge started, still unwilling to activate the bomb.

"Three million Cybermen!" Rhea hissed at him. She could only imagine what they would do to the rest of the galaxy if they were left unheeded.

"The bomb, the throne, it's all connected. I just have to say, 'This is Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, called Longstaff the 41st, the defender of humanity, imperator of known space. Activate the Desolator.'" The bomb glowed a dull red, signalling its activation and Rhea and the Doctor smiled. "And it's done."

The Doctor scanned the bomb with his screwdriver.

"It'll blow in about 80 seconds. Easily long enough for the Imperial Flagship to locate me from my identification, warp-jump into orbit, and transmat us to the State Room." He closed his eyes.

They were transported to the imperial spaceship, which looked like an alien version of a throne room in a castle. Rhea got up from her place on the ground and turned around to see Porridge on a multi-levelled dais. Behind him, there was a massive window overlooking the planet they had just been on. The others, the Doctor, Clara, Angie, Artie and the soldiers, were still on the floor.

The Doctor got up and looked around. "Oh, yeah! Nice ship. Bit big. Not blue enough." Rhea rolled her eyes. The Doctor stepped onto the dais and spoke with Porridge. "Listen, there is a large blue box at co-ordinates six ultra 19P. I need it transmatted up here right away."

"Right." Porridge nodded and looked at a woman standing at a pedestal. "Did you get that?"

The woman nodded.

* * *

Everyone stepped towards the window as the countdown came closer to zero. Clara wrapped her arm around Artie's shoulder and Rhea took the Doctor's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"And that's that. 76, 77, 78, 79..." Porridge counted.

The planet exploded into a million little yellow pieces and everyone reeled from the force of the blast. Artie, Angie and Clara sat on the steps of the dais.

"Fairwell, Cyberiad. You know... it was GOOD to get away. Good to be a person and not to be lonely or Emperor of 1,000 galaxies, with everybody waiting for ME to tell them what to do." Porridge said, wistfully.

"Can't you run away again?" Artie asked, curiously.

Porridge shook his head. "They'll be keeping a close eye on me this time. That's what happens when you're Emperor - loneliest job in the Universe."

Clara gave a small smile. "You don't have to be lonely."

The Doctor and Rhea smiled at Clara's caring nature.

"I don't." Porridge said and faced Clara, getting down on one knee. "Clara... will you marry me?"

Rhea choked and coughed to cover it up and the Doctor looked stunned at Porridge's question. Clara looked shocked, her face completely disbelieving.

"What?" Clara asked, her eyes wide.

"He said…" Artie started.

"She heard what he said." Angie said, grinning.

"You're smart and you're beautiful," Rhea could see the Doctor making a face when he said that and she elbowed him in the side, ignoring his gasp. "And I've never met anyone like you before. And being Emperor won't be as hard if you're by my side. And you'd rule 1,000 galaxies."

The Doctor leaned over Porridge's shoulder, prepared to give some advice.

"This sounds like an actual marriage proposal - tricky. Now, if you want my advice..." Rhea reached out and grabbed the Doctor by the scruff of his collar and pulled him back.

"Don't interfere." Rhea hissed.

"You - not one word." Clara said, agreeing with Rhea. "This is between me and the... Emperor. Porridge, I...don't want to rule 1,000 galaxies."

The Doctor gave Clara a thumbs-up and a pleased nod behind Porridge's back.

"Yeah. Silly of me." Porridge said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I'm really sorry." Clara said, sincerely.

"But that's stupid. You could be queen of the universe. How can you say no to that? When someone asks you if you want to be queen of the universe, you say, "Yes." You watch. One day, I'LL be queen of the universe." Angie said, confidently.

Rhea grinned at her and winked.

Porridge smiled at Angie's declaration and stood. "Of course, I could have you all executed - which is what a proper Emperor would do."

Rhea's eyes widened.

"You're not actually going to do that, though, are you...?" The Doctor asked, hesitating.

Porridge smiled and chuckled.

The Doctor pointed at Porridge. "Oh, you're...! Hey?" He said, laughing.

"Go on, get out of here, all of you, before I change my mind." Porridge said.

The Doctor and Rhea headed for the TARDIS and the children followed. Clara stood and saluted Porridge before joining them.

* * *

Clara and Rhea stood against the railing as the Doctor navigated the TARDIS back to Earth.

"Here's hoping he'll get it right this time." Rhea muttered to Clara.

Clara laughed but smothered it quickly when the Doctor glared at them.

Clara suddenly looked at Rhea. "Can I ask you a question?"

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"You haven't been travelling with the Doctor long, have you?" Clara asked her. Rhea shook her head. "So, are you dealing with this okay then?"

Rhea's shoulders slumped. "By this, do you mean the whole time-and-space travelling thing or the fact that there's a twelve-hundred-and-something year old alien that gives me strange looks when he thinks I'm not looking?" Rhea asked.

Clara properly turned and looked at Rhea. "It's just…you smile or you grin a lot but your eyes look all sad. Kind of like the Doctor's eyes."

Rhea's eyes widened and she swallowed hard. "I'm…adjusting. Look, I'm not normal, Clara. I'm trying to deal with the fact that my life has just been upturned after I just started to get it sorted again." She sighed.

"But, you're with the Doctor, isn't that good?" Clara asked, confused.

Rhea smiled. "I think it is. I mean, in a billion years, I never imagined this would happen to me. A part of me is glad it did but another part says that I should get away as quickly as possible. But I have no choice. So, I have to deal with it. I am starting to accept that my life is going to be wholly different than what I would have expected."

Clara still looked confused. "Clara, I'm not completely all right. I'm kind of screwed up in the head. The world isn't safe for girls like me. But maybe, I'm not safe for the world either. And… I shouldn't even be telling you all of this." Rhea frowned. This wasn't like her, she didn't just tell every random person she met her entire life history.

"Why would you say that?" Clara asked, cocking her head.

Rhea opened her mouth to deflect Clara's question but she was cut off.

"Okay, right where we picked you up!" The Doctor said, pulling a lever, with a beaming smile on his face.

They moved so that they were leaning against the console instead of the railing.

Artie shook the Doctor's hand, furiously. "Thank you for having me. It was very interesting."

The Doctor leaned down, smiling. "My pleasure. Thank you for coming." He turned to Angie. "Now, I've got something for you." He started running around the console and Angie followed him. He realised she was behind him and turned to her. "It's not from me, it's from the TARDIS. Ah! New phone." He said, giving Angie a new mobile.

"Thank!" Angie said, grinning at the phone.

"You're welcome."

"Sorry I said this box was stupid." Angie shook the Doctor's hand before heading out the door.

"Bye!" The Doctor and Rhea said, waving at the two.

"Thanks, Clara. Thanks, Clara's friends."

The children waved goodbye and exited the TARDIS. Clara walked over to stand beside the Doctor and Rhea.

"Thanks, guys."

"For what?" Rhea asked.

"Kids' day out, getting us off the planet alive, whatever you were doing with the Cybermen..."

The Doctor nodded.

"Good night." She said, smiling, and walked to the blue doors. "See you next Wednesday."

"Well... a Wednesday, definitely. Next Wednesday, last Wednesday..." The Doctor said and Clara left. "One of the Wednesdays. Impossible girl. A mystery wrapped in an enigma squeezed into a skirt." He remarked, thoughtfully.

"Why is she the impossible girl?" Rhea asked the Doctor, leaning against the TARDIS console as he set the ship in motion.

He turned to her and smirked. "Spoilers."

Rhea groaned. "I'm gonna hate that word soon, aren't I?"

"Just when it's used like this. You use it a lot too, you know."

"I hate not knowing things." Rhea pouted.

"So, didn't you want to know what the Cyber Planner was going to tell you?" The Doctor asked, suddenly, making sure he wasn't actually looking at her.

Rhea paused. She didn't know how to best answer that. "You told me you couldn't tell me yet." She said, slowly.

"I can't. But didn't you want to know?"

Rhea nodded. "I did. Of course I did. But…"

"But what?"

"You know, sometimes I wish I could read your mind and sometimes I'm glad I can't because I don't think want to know the truth." She said, realising the absolute truth in the words she had just spoken. A part of her really didn't want to know the truth. She wasn't sure if she ready to deal with it just yet.

She looked over at the Doctor to see many emotions warring on his face. He finally settled on a smile and pressed a button the console, making the TARDIS light up and wheeze and groan.

"Hey, I have an idea that could solve our 'spoiler' problem." Rhea suddenly said, leaning against the console and facing him.

"Hmm..." He hummed.

"Every time I meet a specific you, I will tell them a word from my last adventure with that specific 'you', just to see whether you've done it yet. Kind of like a password. Then I'll know that you've done it." Rhea said, happily.

The Doctor frowned. "But how would you know that I haven't done the adventure before that one? Or-"

"Hey!" She held up a hand to stop him from continuing. "It's a temporary solution. Don't knock it!" She glared at him.

The Doctor shook his head, smiling. "Where to next, then?" The Doctor asked.

"Take me somewhere…" She looked thoughtful. "Amazing."

Suddenly, the pain hit her on all sides like a shockwave and she stumbled away from the console and the Doctor. She vaguely heard him shouting her name until everything went black and she collapsed.

When she opened her eyes, she was lying on a bed, tucked in the covers, in a room that looked entirely too familiar to her. It looked like the inside of her bedroom in her apartment, complete with ornaments and knick-knacks and the same bedspread she remembered sleeping in when she had met the Doctor the first time. She looked around and saw the exact same laptop she had used in the library, sitting on a desk. She grabbed it and frantically turned it on and saw the exact same page she had left open the last time she had jumped. The same two entries, 'Titanic' and 'Soviet submarine', were still on the page. She sighed and added 'Cybermen in amusement park' after them. _This must be my room on the TARDIS_.

She looked around and her eyes fell on the door, wondering which Doctor she would meet up with this time. She pushed herself out of the bed and walked unsteadily over to the door, as if she hadn't walked in days. She opened the door and looked around, seeing no one, and walked slowly down the corridor, hoping she'd find the control room quickly. She saw the steps and she hurried up them, realising she was in the same TARDIS as she had when she and the Doctor had crashed into the Titanic. She hoped that meant…

She rushed onto the console room and the Doctor was sitting on the captain's chair, flicking through the pages of a book.

She hesitated by one of the coral struts and then she grinned, deciding to screw with him a bit and slowly walked over so that she was behind him. She leaned down. "Are you always going to put me to bed, honey?" She whispered in his ear, smiling.

She could tell his face stretched from his smile even from behind him and he stood up quickly, wearing the exact same blue suit and tie he had on the last time she had seen this Doctor.

He pulled her around the chair and lifted her up in a tight hug, kissing her forehead. She squeaked in surprise and patted him on the back until he let her down.

"I thought you were going to sleep forever." He whined, dramatically.

She punched him in the arm lightly, ignoring his mock-hurt look. "Wouldn't you like that?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps on metal grating and Rhea turned around to see a woman with bright red hair wearing a dark blue blazer and pale blue jeans walk up to the console room.

"Rhea, you're awake!" The woman shouted as she walked up to her, giving her a tight hug.

"Woah!" Rhea exclaimed in surprise and tentatively patted the woman on the bag until she let her go. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Rhea asked, slowly, trying her hardest not to sound rude and hating this whole 'never-meeting-people-in-the-right-order' thing she had going on. It drove her nuts introducing herself to people who already knew her.

"You don't know who I am?" The woman asked, frowning, the sadness easily spotted in her eyes.

"She hasn't met you yet." The Doctor interrupted and explained to the woman.

"No, sorry." Rhea said, agreeing with him.

"Donna. Donna Noble." The woman introduced, holding out a hand quickly.

Rhea shook it, clasping the hand firmly. "Dr. Rhea Adwani."

Donna grinned. "I know."

Rhea felt the smile on her face grow. "I know you know. I was just introducing myself for the hell of it." She winked, spun on her feet and looked at the Doctor, a grin playing on her lips and her eyes bright. "Where are we off to this time, alien boy?"

* * *

A/N: Well, this is a long chapter. Okay, so I hope you liked the ending to Nightmare in Silver and the interaction between the Cyber Planner and Rhea. I wonder what the Doctor's keeping from her, hmm? Oh, and a little hint for the next chapter, it's an episode from Season 4, that's all I can tell you right now. I'm sorry if the introduction between Rhea and Donna seemed a little forced, I'm trying to convey Rhea's slow acceptance as well as her sadness at the way her life has changed so dramatically, and that came out in her first meeting with Donna, another companion who knows her but she doesn't know them. She's still coming to terms with everything that has happened, so she's a bit bipolar at this point. I hope you liked the little girl talk between Rhea and Clara, I also tried to show that Rhea doesn't want to be talking about things like that with Clara, she doesn't trust Clara yet.

Anyways, Read and Review!


	9. TSS: ATMOS

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, Donna Noble would be my best friend.

A/N: Well, here's the promised episode from Season 4…The Sontaran Stratagem! I thought it would be a good place to introduce Martha and Donna to Rhea and see her interactions with the Sontarans, especially since she has a brand new shiny gun!

Notes on Reviews:

IKhandoZatman: Sorry, as you can see, it's not Silence in the Library. I will be doing Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone before Silence in the Library, because I wanted Rhea to meet River first, but there are quite a few episodes before that.

YingWhiteyWolf – What do you mean by more interesting things? If you can be more specific, I can see if I can slip those in. Thanks again for the review!

Queenylime2 – Thank you so much! I know, I really liked writing Rhea's feelings about Donna, but it'll be so much better after The Poison Sky and when Donna goes on the Sontaran spaceship. She is mine too, she's the only companion in the New Series that didn't have a thing for the Doctor and that's great in my books.

Tooclosefortety: Thank you so much! And I'll answer everything you said, I promise. 1. I love River too! I love how she is with a gun and with the Doctor and I can't wait to write her with Rhea as well. Rose and Rhea will have a troubled relationship, but only in specific chapters. My Time Lady OC one will have a jealous Rose and a take-no-prisoners Time Lady. 2. Yeah, the ageing part put me off that idea and the fact that Jack will most likely live so much longer than the Doctor and I don't really like that idea. 3. With the exception of The Doctor's Daughter, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, The Lodger, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, The Impossible Astronaut/The Day of the Moon and Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, all the others are definitely in the near future. Those ones, I want to make sure that I've fleshed out Rhea's place in the backstory first, before I write those.

Kristina'sMyName: Thanks! I agree with you about the companions, they're my favourites too, except I did have a problem with Amy in the first half of season 5, but she did get better. I like Martha and Jack as well, and Rose in only specific episodes.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts

* * *

The Sontaran Stratagem: ATMOS

Donna was at the controls while the Doctor watched on nervously and Rhea just stood there smiling. She had convinced the Doctor to teach Donna how to fly the TARDIS. He had put up a big fight but she had managed to wear him down. And it was worth it just to see Donna's face like this. She looked over the moon.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Donna said, excitedly.

"No, neither can I." The Doctor said warily and jumped when Rhea elbowed him in the side.

They continued to watch on as Donna activated some controls on the console.

"Whoa, careful!" The Doctor said, nudging Donna aside and banging the console with a mallet before lifting one of the levers, watching the scanner of the Vortex eagerly.

Rhea pulled the mallet out of his hands. "Cool it! She doesn't like it when you use a mallet, you know." She said, wagging her finger and throwing the mallet aside.

"Left hand down! Left hand down!" The Doctor shouted at Donna, ignoring Rhea, and the ship lurched when Donna pulled down a lever. Rhea grabbed a coral strut for balance as she was rocked around the console room. "Getting a bit too close to the 1980s."

"What am I gonna do, put a dent in 'em?" Donna asked, sarcastically, and Rhea snorted, appreciating the girl's humour.

"Well, someone did." The Doctor remarked.

A mobile phone rang and Donna looked shocked, looking around the TARDIS, Rhea looked bemused. _The phone box has a mobile phone_. The Doctor looked concerned as he moved around the two women to the source of the ringing.

"Hold on…" Donna started slowly. "That's a phone!"

The Doctor pulled a mobile phone from a holder in the console. He looked at it and then at Rhea.

"You've got a mobile? Since when?" Donna asked.

"It's not mine." The Doctor said, lowly. He opened it and leaned on the captain's chair. "Hello?"

"Doctor, it's Martha… and I'm bringing the two of you back to Earth."

* * *

The TARDIS materialised between two buildings and behind Martha without much cause for alarm since Rhea had pressed a few buttons without the Doctor's notice, but he really didn't need to know that. She turned at the sound. The Doctor opened the door and stepped out. He stood in front of the open door and Rhea ran away from the console and walked out, looking at both sides and seeing Martha. She pushed him in that direction. She cocked her head, staring at Martha. She was a pretty dark-skinned woman in her early twenties, wearing a black leather jacket and black pants and a badge pinned on her chest.

"Martha Jones." The Doctor said, no emotion showing on his face.

"Doctor. Rhea." Martha said, nodding at them both.

The Doctor took a few steps and Martha matched them. Rhea stood a few steps back, unsure of how to proceed. Martha held out her arms and the Doctor picked her up in a great hug, his mouth spreading out in a grin.

"Ah, yeah!" The Doctor said, releasing her. "You haven't changed a bit!"

"Neither have you!"

"How's the family?" The Doctor asked, slowly.

"You know. Not so bad. Recovering." Martha said, shrugging, and looked over at Rhea and grinned. "What, don't I get a hug?"

Rhea looked at the Doctor, helplessly, hoping that he would intervene on her behalf. Thankfully, he did.

"Martha, this is the first time that she's met you." The Doctor said, slowly.

Rhea looked at Martha apologetically. She could tell this woman cared for her a lot.

"Oh." Martha faltered. She walked over to Rhea and held her hand out. "Martha. Martha Jones."

Rhea shook her hand. "Rhea Adwani."

Martha smiled. "I know."

Rhea smothered a laugh, feeling a sense of déjà vu coming upon her. She looked at Martha, whose face changed into an expression she couldn't figure out. She saw Martha's gaze move from her to behind her. She looked behind and saw Donna coming out of the TARDIS slowly. Two women, one the current companion of the Doctor and the other, the past, she wondered how this would turn out.

"What about you?" The Doctor asked, not seeing Donna yet.

"Right. I should have known. Didn't take you long to replace me." Martha said, nodding in a way that seemed like she was trying to convince herself of something.

"Now, don't start a fight. Martha, Donna. Donna, Martha. Please don't fight. I can't bear fighting." The Doctor pleaded, as if he expected something in particular, standing to the side and holding up his hands in a surrender position. Rhea joined him, looking between the two women, wondering what would happen now.

"You wish." Donna said, rolling her eyes, and walked up to shake Martha's hand. "I've heard all about you. They talk about you all the time."

"I dread to think." Martha said, giving an embarrassed laugh, the same kind of laugh that someone gave when they've done something embarrassing and everyone knows about it.

"No, no, no. He says nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really good things." Donna tried to cover up.

"Oh, my God, he's told you everything." Martha said, grimacing.

Donna and Rhea laughed and Rhea noticed something glinting on Martha's hand. "Who's the lucky guy?" Rhea asked, looking noticeably at the engagement ring on Martha's finger.

"What guy? Lucky what?" The Doctor asked, oblivious as usual, and frowned.

Donna rolled her eyes, having noticed the ring as well. "She's engaged, you prawn."

Martha smiled and wiggled the fingers on her left hand, showing the Doctor her engagement ring.

"Really?" The Doctor asked, his eyes widening. "Who to?"

"Tom. That Tom Milligan. He's in paediatrics working out in Africa right now. And yes, I know, I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places - tell me about it." Martha said, flushing a little.

"Is he skinny?" Donna asked.

"No, he's sort of…strong." Martha said, blushing a bit.

"He is too skinny for words. You give him a hug, you get a paper cut." Donna said, pointing at the Doctor.

Rhea started laughing madly, holding onto the wall behind her for support, as she threatened to fall down from the force of her shaking. "Oh, that's a good one." Rhea said, in between her laughs. "I'm so using that again."

Martha chuckled.

The Doctor grimaced. "Oh, I'd rather you were fighting."

Rhea nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Get over yourself, honey, that is never gonna happen."

"Oh, you are so wrong." The Doctor said, smirking.

"Speaking of 'fighting'…" Martha started, before speaking into her walkie-talkie. "This is Dr Jones. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go." She turned around and walked away. "I repeat, this is a go."

As the Doctor, Rhea and Donna followed her, soldiers, jeeps and a large lorry rolled down the road that was just outside the alley.

"Unified Intelligence Taskforce, raise that barrier now!" One of the soldiers shouted and more soldiers and vehicles entered a large industrial factory. "Leave your safeties on, lads, it's non-hostiles!"

"All workers lay down your tools and surrender!" Another soldier shouted over a bullhorn.

"Greyhound Six to Trap One. B Section, go, go, go! Search the ground floor, grid pattern Delta." Martha ordered.

"What are you searching for?" The Doctor asked her.

"Illegal aliens."

"When you say aliens, do you mean immigrants or like him?" She asked, pointing to the Doctor.

"This is a UNIT operation! All workers lay down your tools and surrender immediately!" The soldier on the bullhorn shouted.

The UNIT soldiers grasped workers in blue and pointed guns at their heads, forcing them to their knees, hands over their heads.

"B Section mobilized! E Section, F Section, on my command!" Martha shouted before running off, commanding the action.

"Is that what you did to her, turned her into a soldier?" Donna asked the Doctor and Rhea, the latter not having an answer for her, just staring at the uneasy look on the Doctor's face.

* * *

Martha strode up to where the three of them were standing. The Doctor noticed the name on her badge.

"You're qualified now? You're a proper doctor." The Doctor asked Martha, shocked just a little bit.

"UNIT rushed it through, given my experience in the field." She gestured for the three to follow her. "Here we go." She led them across the grounds to huge long truck. "We're establishing a field base on site. They're dying to meet you."

"Wish I could say the same." Rhea smiled when she heard the Doctor mumble.

They entered the lorry through the rear. The inside looked like the control room of a secret military agency, computers, monitors and communications, everything top of the range and like something out of The Avengers, Rhea thought.

Martha walked up to a senior officer, and older man in uniform. "Operation Blue Sky complete, sir. Thanks for letting me take the lead. And, this…this is the Doctor and Dr. Adwani. Doctor, Rhea, Colonel Mace."

"Sir! Ma'am!" The colonel saluted.

Rhea slightly recoiled, shocked at the salute, she had never been saluted before, and the Doctor grimaced as well. "Oh, don't salute." The Doctor grumbled.

"But it's an honour, sir. I've read all the files on the two of you. And UNIT took it upon ourselves to look into your history on Earth, Dr. Adwani."

"My history?" Rhea asked, her eyes widening.

"Sunehri Seraphina Adwani, born May 2, 1986 to parents Nikhil and Seraphina Adwani. Graduated from Stanford University with a PhD in Psychology. Marr-"

"Okay, you can stop there." Rhea cut in, holding a hand out to stop him before he could go any further with the information they had retrieved. There were a few things she didn't need to get into right now. Rhea didn't notice the dark look that graced the Doctor's face as her attention was still drawn to Colonel Mace.

"Technically speaking, you're still on staff. You never resigned." Mace told them both.

Rhea's eyes narrowed. "Spoilers?" She asked the Doctor, crossing her arms. The Doctor's look was all she needed. "Friggin' time travel." Rhea muttered under her breath.

"What, you used to work for them?" Donna asked, her eyes moving between the two of them.

Rhea shrugged. "Don't ask me! I haven't done it yet." _And isn't that just wonderful_.

"Yeah, long time ago. Back in the 70s. Or was it the 80s? But it was all a bit more homespun back then." The Doctor murmured, standing on his toes and looking around at the makeshift office.

"Times have changed, sir."

"Yeah, that's enough of the 'sir'." The Doctor said, wagging his finger.

"Yeah, and no more 'ma'am'. I'm twenty-seven, not fifty-seven." Rhea snorted, snapping her fingers in front of the colonel's face.

"Come on, now Doctor, you've seen it. You've been on board the Valiant." Rhea looked confused. "We've got massive funding from the United Nations. All in the name of home world security." Martha said, walking around so that they could get a better look at the massive monitor at the front of the room.

"A modern UNIT for the modern world." The colonel agreed.

"What, and that means arresting ordinary workers? In the streets? In broad daylight?" The Doctor took off his long brown trench coat and threw it over one of the computers. "It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there." Donna scoffed, pointing outside the truck. "Donna, by the way. Donna Noble, since you didn't ask. I'll have a salute." She said, putting all the sass she could muster into one look at the colonel and placed her hands on her hips.

Rhea grinned and looked down. "Oh, she's good. Really good." She whispered to the Doctor. "I can see why you like her."

The colonel looked at the Doctor and Rhea. The Doctor gave the colonel a nod and Rhea gave the man an expectant look.

"Ma'am." The colonel saluted Donna.

"Thank you." Donna smiled, pleased.

"Tell me what's going on in that factory." The Doctor said to the colonel, moving over to one of the computers and sat down, looking at the monitor with his head in one of his hands.

"Yesterday, fifty-two people died in identical circumstances right across the world, in 11 different time zones. 5am in the UK, 6am in France, 8am in Moscow, 1pm in China-"

Rhea interrupted him. "You mean simultaneously." She deduced, quickly working out the time zones in her head.

The colonel nodded. "Exactly. 52 deaths at the exact same moment worldwide."

"How did they die?" The Doctor asked, turning to the colonel.

"They were all inside their cars." The colonel said.

"They were poisoned." The Doctor and Rhea turned to Martha when she started speaking. "I checked the biopsies. No toxins. Whatever it is, left the system immediately."

Rhea frowned, pursing her lips. "What do the cars have in common?"

"Completely different makes but all fitted with ATMOS. And that is the ATMOS factory." Martha said, pointing outside.

"What's ATMOS?" The Doctor asked, turning and looking at Martha.

"Oh come on, even I know that. Everyone's got ATMOS." Donna added.

"See, that might just be a problem." Rhea whispered to the Doctor.

* * *

Martha walked the Doctor, Rhea and Donna along a catwalk that overlooked the factory floor, the colonel behind them, as she explained to the Doctor and Rhea what ATMOS was.

"Stands for "Atmospheric Emission System". The ATMOS in your car reduces CO2 emissions to zero." Martha summarised as she strode forwards, confident in her movements.

"Zero? No carbon? None at all?" The Doctor said, incredulously.

"And you get sat-nav thrown in, plus 20 quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend. Bargain." Donna gave the two further details.

Colonel Mace came up to them.

"And this is where they make it, Doctor, shipping worldwide. Seventeen factories across the globe but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth."

"Why does everything happen in London?" Rhea asked, looking extremely annoyed, barely stopping herself from throwing her hands in the air.

Everyone ignored her outburst. "And you think ATMOS is alien?" The Doctor asked the colonel.

"It's our job to investigate that possibility. Doctor? Dr. Adwani?" Mace said, motioning for them to follow him.

The colonel walked off and the Doctor and Rhea followed. They passed by the area where the UNIT soldiers were still gathering together and investigating the workers.

"Come on, everybody, up the pace. We haven't got all day now." One of the soldiers told the workers.

The colonel, Rhea, the Doctor, Martha and Donna walked into a small office at the end of the catwalk.

"And here it is, laid bare. ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car." The colonel said.

"You must have checked the product before it went on sale." Rhea said, confused, looking at Martha and the colonel.

"We did." Martha looked at Rhea. "We found nothing. That's why I thought we needed experts."

"Really, who'd you get?" The Doctor asked, not looking at any of them and putting his glasses on and examining some of the equipment at the side of the office. He turned around and saw everyone fixing him with a meaningful look. "Oh, right! Us! Yes! Good!"

Rhea and Martha rolled their eyes at his obliviousness and shared a conspiratorial look between them. Martha and the colonel left the office, letting the Doctor do what he did best.

Donna walked up to them. "Okay, so why would aliens be so keen on cleaning up our atmosphere?"

"Very good question." The Doctor commented.

"Maybe they want to help - get rid of pollution and stuff." Donna offered.

"Do you know how many cars there are on planet Earth?" The Doctor asked and Donna shook her head. "Eight hundred million. Imagine that."

Rhea realised where he was going with this. "Imagine what you could do if you controlled eight hundred million cars. Eight hundred million weapons." She murmured, her eyes wide.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea examined the ATMOS device.

"Ionising nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter…which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level." The Doctor said, peering at the ATMOS device.

"We know about that. What's its origin? Is it alien?" The colonel asked, leaning closer to the Doctor and bending over the ATMOS device.

"No, but it's decades ahead of its time." The Doctor grimaced and looked at the colonel. "Look, do you mind? Could you stand back a bit?"

The colonel withdrew and looked confused. "Sorry, have I done something wrong?"

"You're carrying a gun. I don't like people with guns hanging around me, all right?" The Doctor growled.

"If you insist." The colonel said, uncomfortable and offended, and walked away.

"Tetchy." Martha commented.

"Well, it's true." The Doctor defended himself, not looking up from the device.

"He's a good man." Martha insisted and then gestured at Rhea. "And anyway, she carries a gun."

The Doctor glared at her. "Rhea's different."

"Of course she is." Martha scoffed, knowing that the Doctor would jump to her defence immediately.

Rhea glared at her. "Okay, first of all," She parted her blazer to reveal the blaster she had gotten from the platoon fighting the Cybermen. "I haven't actually used it yet. And second of all, I'd only use the gun as a last resort. I can do plenty of damage without it. Got that, Dr. Quinn?" Rhea said, putting her hands on her hips and fixing Martha with a look. Martha didn't falter and Rhea smiled. She could tell she was going to like this one.

"People with guns are usually the enemy in my books. You seem quite at home." The Doctor commented to Martha, scanning the ATMOS device with his sonic, which he had pulled out of his pocket. Rhea was almost shocked when she saw the thin metal rod with the blue light. She had gotten so used to the eleventh version of him using his bulky version with the green light.

"If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you." Martha said, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh right, so it's my fault." The Doctor said, rolling his eyes and still not looking her in the eye.

"Well, you got me the job. Besides, look at me." The Doctor turned off the sonic screwdriver and looked at her. "Am I carrying a gun?"

"Suppose not." He mumbled.

"It's all right for you. You two can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. So I've got to work from the inside and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better." Martha explained, the sincerity obvious in her voice.

"Yeah?" The Doctor smiled. "That's more like Martha Jones."

"I learnt from the best."

"Well…" The Doctor drawled, a smug look plastered across his face.

"I meant Rhea." Martha said, smirking.

Rhea grinned at the girl and rejoiced in the insulted look on the Doctor's face. "Thank you, Martha, I appreciate the compliment." She paused. "Even though I haven't actually done anything yet. Please keep going, by the way, his head needs to shrink often."

Donna appeared in the doorway, pushed herself through the plastic flaps and re-entered the room.

"Oi, you lot! All your storm troopers and your blasters and your sonics - rubbish! Shoulda come with me." She said, a pleased smile playing on her lips, the same kind of smile as someone who knew something they shouldn't and was dying to share it with others.

"Where have you been?" The Doctor asked, frowning.

The colonel rejoined them.

"Personnel. That's where the weird stuff's happening - in the paperwork. 'Cause I spent years working as a temp, I can find my way around an office blindfolded, and the first thing I noticed is an empty file." She said the last few words slowly, drawing out the suspense.

"Why, what's inside it? Or what's not inside it?" The Doctor asked, straightening.

"Sick days." She opened the binder to reveal the empty file. "There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip, nothing. Not ever! They don't get ill."

"That can't be right." The colonel said, walking over and taking the folder from Donna.

"You've been checking out the buildings, should've been checking out the workforce." Donna said.

Martha gave a small smile and looked at the Doctor and Rhea. "I can see why they like you."

"Hmm." Donna made a noise of agreement.

"You are _good_."

"Super Temp." Rhea purred, her smile was wide and her teeth were showing, her tongue peeking out in between the front teeth. Donna grinned back at her and three women shared a look.

"Doctor Jones, set up a medical post, start examining the workers. I'll get them sent through." The colonel ordered Martha and walked off.

"Come on, Donna, give me a hand." Martha told Donna and the Doctor and Rhea ran out of the office, following Colonel Mace.

They walked with Mace along an open corridor parallel to the work area.

"So this, this ATMOS thing? Where did it come from?" The Doctor asked the colonel.

"Luke Rattigan himself."

"And 'himself' would be?" Rhea asked, slowly.

They went over to a computer and the colonel brought up Luke Rattigan's profile on the monitor. "Child genius. Invented the Fountain 6 search engine when he was 12 years old. Millionaire overnight. Now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students, handpicked from all over the world."

"A hothouse for geniuses, wouldn't mind going there." The Doctor remarked.

The colonel looked confused, a puzzled look on his face.

"I get lonely." The Doctor explained and then winced when Rhea elbowed him in the stomach.

"And what exactly am I? Chopped liver?" Rhea asked him, crossing her arms and fixing him with a look that told him to explain quickly and correctly what he meant.

"I mean 'we'." The Doctor said, weakly, hoping that was the correct answer.

"You were implying that I'm stupid." Rhea growled.

"I mean human geniuses." The Doctor quickly tried to explain.

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "And what am I, if not human?"

"Um…well…the thing is…" The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "What I meant to say…"

The colonel was stunned to see the Doctor, the great Time Lord himself, stammering when faced with a tiny force of nature like Sunehri Adwani.

* * *

"Do you think I should call my mum? About the ATMOS in her car?" Donna asked Martha while they were in the personnel office of the ATMOS factory. Donna picked up a chair and sat it down next to Martha.

"Better safe than sorry." Martha told Donna, sitting at the desk and looking through the binders.

"I'll give her a call." Donna decided and started to leave when Martha stopped her.

"Donna…do they know where you are? Your family… I mean, that you're travelling with the Doctor and Rhea." Martha asked, feeling the need to ask a question that had plagued her ever since she had started travelling with the two of them.

Donna swallowed and stepped closer to Martha. "Not really. Although... my granddad sorta waved us off. I didn't have time to explain."

"You just left him behind?" Martha said, with all the sympathy of someone who had made the exact same choice just over a year ago.

"Yeah."

Martha nodded. "I didn't tell my family. Kept it all so secret and it almost destroyed them." Martha said, thinking about the Year-That-Never-Was and everything her parents and sister had gone through at the hands of the Master.

"In what way?" Donna asked, tentatively.

"They ended up imprisoned. They were tortured - my mum, my dad, my sister... It wasn't the Doctor's or Rhea's fault, but you need to be careful. 'Cause you know the Doctor and Rhea, he's wonderful, he's brilliant, and she's amazing and beautiful, but they're like fire - stand to close and people get burned."

* * *

The colonel led them both to the docking bay and they walked across the area.

"You are not coming with us." The Doctor warned the colonel. "I want to talk to this Luke Rattigan, not point a gun at him." Then, he looked at Rhea. "And that goes for you too, don't get trigger happy, even if he makes you angry."

Rhea glared at him. "I'm shocked you think so little of my self control."

The Doctor snorted. "I know enough about your self control to know you can't resist pulling the gun on him to at least scare him if he makes you angry."

Rhea rolled her eyes and decided to disregard his comment and they strode down the bay.

"It's ten miles outside London. How are you going to get there?" The colonel asked them, confused about their plan, especially if he wasn't going to go with them.

"Then get us a Jeep." The Doctor suggested, his voice rising slightly, his hands firmly shoved in his suit pockets.

"According to the records, you travel by TARDIS." The colonel commented.

"Yeah, but, if there is a danger of hostile aliens, I think it best to keep a super-duper time travel machine away from the front lines." The Doctor said, quickly.

"I see. Then you do have weapons but you choose to keep them hidden. Jenkins?" The colonel yelled, turning away from the two time-travellers and addressing a young man in a UNIT uniform.

"Yes, sir!" Jenkins answered.

"You will accompany the Doctor and Dr. Adwani and take orders from them." The colonel orders.

"Yeah, I don't do orders." The Doctor said, looking at Jenkins.

"Any sign of trouble, get Jenkins to declare a Code Red. And good luck, sir, ma'am." The colonel informed the Doctor and Rhea and saluted them both once more.

"I thought we said no salutes." Rhea said, raising an eyebrow.

"Now you're giving orders." The colonel said, looking away from them and striding away.

"Oh, you're getting a bit cheeky, you are." The Doctor murmured at the colonel's back.

"Doctor…" They heard Donna's voice as she came down the ramp of the docking bay.

"Oh, just in time! Come on! Come on, we're going to the country. Fresh air and geniuses, what more could you ask?" The Doctor said, the excitement clear on his face, running up to her, grabbing her hand and dragging her along towards the Jeep.

Donna pulled him back and made him stop. "I'm not coming with you." She said softly.

The Doctor and Rhea just stared at her. Rhea cocked her head, looking at Donna. Could all of this, especially with Martha, make Donna want to leave the Doctor? No, when she looked at Donna, she saw a woman who was aching for the chance for an adventure. This wasn't the sort of woman who would only travel with the Doctor a few times and then ditch him. She was in for the long haul.

"I've been thinking. I'm sorry, I'm going home." Donna said, seriously.

The Doctor's face faltered. "Really?" He asked, quietly.

"I've got to."

The Doctor nodded, the disappointment stamped across his face. "Well, if that's what you want." He said, his eyebrows furrowing. "I mean it's a bit soon... I had so many places I had wanted to take you. The Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, the Lightning Skies of Cotter Palluni's World, Diamond Coral Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko..." His voice dropped into the lower registers as disappointment and desire warred. "Thank you. Thank you, Donna Noble. It's been brilliant. You-you've saved my life in so many ways." The smirk on Donna's face became pronounced and comprehension dawned on his face. "You're... You're-you're just popping home for a visit. That's what you mean."

"You dumbo." Donna whispered.

"And then you're coming back."

"Know what you are? A great big outer-space dunce." Donna said, barely holding back her grin.

"Yeah." The Doctor agreed, rubbing his face with his palm.

Rhea rolled her eyes and smiled at Donna. "You know, for a time-travelling alien with two hearts and an incredibly massive and egotistical brain, you sure are stupid." Rhea said, reaching up and tapping the Doctor lightly on the cheek with her palm.

"Ready when you are, sir, ma'am." Jenkins said from the Jeep.

"What's more you can give me a lift. Come on!" Donna said, rushing over to the Jeep and they all climbed in.

"Broken moon of what?" Rhea asked, looking back at the Doctor as she climbed in.

"I know, I know." He grumbled as they drove away.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all liked my rendition of the first part of The Sontaran Stratagem. I really liked writing Rhea uncomfortable when she first met Martha, she's going to have a tough time of it, not meeting people in the right order. And I liked writing the Rhea's rebuttal towards Martha, it was fun and interesting trying to come up with a nickname for Martha that would suit Rhea's personality. Tell me if you agree that Dr. Quinn's a good nickname for her. And I hope you liked the little snippet I gave you about Rhea's home life, at least before she cut the Colonel off. I will be going into her history a bit more soon.


	10. TSS: Biological Warfare

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, there'd be just a few things I changed to the storyline. Who knows, I might do it here.

A/N: Anyways, here's the next chapter of The Sontaran Stratagem and I hope you all like it! And I know it is much shorter than you're used to, I am really sorry.

Notes on Reviews:

Tooclosefortety: I am going to make a Time Lady OC, I just wanted to get quite a few chapters ahead into this story first and then I'll get started on it. I might put a preview up in couple of chapters. I'm glad you liked the chapter, by the way, and yes, I will be talking about Rhea's past, but in a couple more chapters (like 4).

Queenylime2: You know, I can't really say much about your 'married' comment without letting out too much of the details. All I can say is that he won't be making an actual appearance except in a flashback. I feel the exact same way about the companions. I think out of all of the companions, who fell for the Doctor, I liked Martha the best, because she saw a bad situation and had to get out.

IKhandoZatman: I might be doing Classic Who later on, once I have watched it, but I'd want to do every episode of the News Series first and that will take a while. I'm honestly looking at around 200 chapters for all of the seven seasons, not to mention when season 8 comes out. I might be taking a hiatus after I finish the seven seasons to do my Time Lady OC one as well. Depends on how it goes…

Blostma: Yeah, I know how you feel. It's annoying when you come to the end of the story and are just waiting for it to be updated. I try and update this story every alternate day (unless dire circumstances). I've got about five chapters ahead already written. I'm glad you like Rhea and the whole plot, and the 9th Doctor will be coming very soon.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendos.

* * *

The Sontaran Stratagem: Biological Warfare

"_What's more you can give me a lift. Come on!" Donna said, rushing over to the Jeep and they all climbed in._

"_Broken moon of what?" Rhea asked, looking back at the Doctor as she climbed in._

"_I know, I know." He grumbled as they drove away._

The UNIT jeep pulled into a quiet, suburban road and Donna clambered across Rhea and the Doctor out of the vehicle, ignoring their winces and grumbles.

"I'll walk the rest of the way. I'll see you back at the factory, yeah?" Donna told the two of them. Both the Doctor and Rhea nodded and shut the door of the jeep.

"Bye!" The Doctor said and both of them waved.

"And you be careful!" Donna warned them, wagging her finger.

The Doctor, Rhea and Jenkins were driving on a small road, leading up to Rattigan Academy, while the soldier explained a few things about ATMOS to them.

"UNIT's been watching Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth, exercise at dawn and classes and special diets." Jenkins told them.

"Turn left." The navigator on the ATMOS said.

"Ross, a question. If UNIT thinks that ATMOS is shady…" Rhea started.

"How come we've got it in the jeeps?" Ross finished, looking at her out of the corner of his eye and scoffed lightly, as if agreeing with her. "Yeah, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them until we prove something's wrong."

"Turn right." The navigator intoned.

"Drives me around the bend." Ross said, turning into the school drive.

The Doctor and Rhea laughed, noticing that they were, in fact, driving around a bend. "Oh, nice one!" The Doctor said, grinning.

"Timed that perfectly." Ross said, smiling.

"Yeah! Yeah, you did!"

"This is your final destination." The ATMOS said, before shutting off.

They arrived at Rattigan Academy, which looked like an enormous manor house which had been turned into a school. A young man, probably eighteen, stood by himself, in the middle of the grounds, looking out, while students in red sweatsuits jogged past in a uniform line. The Doctor, Rhea and Ross walked up the pavement and came up to him and he turned.

"I wouldn't mind going to school here." Rhea muttered, eyeing the massive manor house.

The Doctor snorted. "You went to Stanford. You can hardly complain." He whispered back to her.

"Is it PE? I wouldn't mind a kick around, I've got my daps on." The Doctor said, his hands firmly shoved in his pockets and his trench coat billowing behind him, and rocked on his feet.

"I suppose you're the Doctor?" Then, he eyed Rhea and walked up to them. "And Dr. Adwani?"

"Hello." The Doctor said.

Rhea smiled. "An American…finally." She crowed.

"Your commanding officer phoned ahead." Luke informed them.

Rhea snorted. "We haven't got a commanding officer." She said, gesturing to the Doctor and herself.

"Have you?" The Doctor asked, the double entendre obvious in his words, at least to Rhea. Luke just stared darkly at him. "Oh, this is Ross." The Doctor turned to Ross. "Say hello, Ross."

"Afternoon, sir." Ross murmured, nodding at the young man.

The Doctor rushed off towards the main doors, pulling Rhea along with him, making her shriek in shock as he almost pulled her arm out of its socket.

"Let's have a look then, I can smell genius... in a good way." Rhea saw Luke roll his eyes behind the Doctor's back and he dragged her into a room full of students performing experiments.

"Oh, now! That's clever, look!" The Doctor told Rhea, putting on his glasses and peering at a device. "Single molecule fabric, how thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble. Oh! Gravity simulators!" He began rushing around the room in excitement. It was like looking at four-year-old in a toy store for the first time. "Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel constructs! Haha! This is brilliant!" He spun on his feet so that he could look Luke in the eye. "Do you know, with equipment like this you could... oh, I don't know, move to another planet or something?"

"Oh my god, you're a science fanboy, aren't you?" Rhea laughed at the Doctor.

Luke looked as if he wanted to say something but held himself back. "If only that was possible."

"If only that were possible." He took off his glasses as Luke glared at him. "Conditional clause." He said, innocently.

Luke looked as though he was about to punch the Doctor in the face but he restrained himself.

"I think you better come with me." Luke said, shortly, and walked off.

Rhea stood on her toes so that she was level with the Doctor's ear, leaning into his body. "Did you see that? He looked like he was going to sucker punch you." She whispered, grinning.

The Doctor looked down at her, realising the closeness of their bodies, and grinned, showing the ruse behind his little linguistic lesson for Luke. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her along to where Luke had rushed off to. They arrived in a large room with a strange large cubic device in the corner.

"You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that." Luke said, looking at the Doctor.

"He called you a grunt!" The Doctor told Ross.

"Don't call Ross a grunt, he's nice." Rhea said, glaring at Luke.

"We like Ross! Look at this place..." The Doctor said, looking around the room and wandering off.

"What exactly do you want?" Luke asked, annoyed and exasperated.

"I was just thinking, what a responsible eighteen year old. Inventing zero carbon cars? Saving the world..." The Doctor trailed off.

"Takes a man with vision."

"Mmm, blinking vision." The Doctor commented. "Cause ATMOS means more people driving, more cars, more petrol, end result: the oil's gonna run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse."

Luke rushed over to them. "Yeah, see, that's a tautology. You can't say 'ATMOS system' since it stands for 'atmospheric emissions system'. So you're just saying 'atmospheric emissions system system' d'you see, Mr Conditional Clause?" He said, quickly.

Rhea blinked. "Oh, sweetie, the buses don't go where you live, do they?" Rhea asked, mock sympathetically. "You completely ignored everything the Doctor just said and focused on an extremely minute detail, might I add…it's been a very long time since someone's said 'no' to you, hasn't it?"

Luke smirked at her. "I'm still right though."

"Rhea, don't be mean." The Doctor said, lowly and not really meaning it, he loved watching Rhea getting under someone's skin, she was so very good at it, and turned back to Luke. "Not easy, is it? Being clever. You look at the world and you connect things. Random things. And think, 'why can't anyone else see it?' The rest of the world is so slow." The Doctor murmured.

"Yeah." Luke agreed, shuffling his feet.

"And you're all on your own." Rhea said, looking at him.

"I know."

"But not with this!" The Doctor exclaimed suddenly, reaching into his trench coat pocket and pulling the ATMOS device out. "Cause here's no way you invented this thing single handed. I mean, it might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages." He chucked the device at Ross, who barely managed to catch it in time.

"No, no, I'll tell you what it's like! It's like finding this in the middle of someone's front room." He pointed behind him at the cubic device. "Albeit, it's a very big front room."

"What is it?" Rhea asked, walking up to the Doctor and looking up at him.

"Yeah, just looks like a thing, doesn't it?" The Doctor said, looking down at Rhea. "People don't question things, they just say 'oh, it's a thing'."

"Leave it alone!" Luke warned, taking a few steps forward.

The Doctor walked into the device and Rhea followed him. "Me, I make these connections. And this, to me, looks like," He pressed a button on the interior. "A teleport pod."

The Doctor and Rhea disappeared from Rattigan Academy and reappeared in a large futuristic spaceship. They saw small creatures in blue armour that covered their entire bodies, including their face.

"Oh…" The Doctor said, slowly, looking at the creatures with shock.

"What are they?" Rhea hissed, nudging them.

The creatures all turned to notice their presence and one of them raised their black staff.

"We have an intruder!" It shouted.

"How did he get in? In-tru-da window?" The Doctor joked but flinched when Rhea whacked him on the chest.

"Don't pun now!" She hissed.

The creatures began to charge towards the Doctor and Rhea.

"Bye bye!" The Doctor waved and pressed the control pad again, and they started to run just as they were teleported away. They appeared back at Rattigan Academy, still running.

"Ross, get out! Luke, you've got to come with me!" The Doctor shouted, running out of the teleport pod, pulling Rhea back with him, and towards the desk on the other side of the room.

He spun around, just as the creature with the black staff appeared in the pod. Grabbing his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor used it to short out the circuits of the teleport pod, making sure that no more would be able to follow. He didn't want nor need anymore Sontarans in the room, especially with Rhea there as well.

"Sontaran!" The Doctor shouted, pulling Rhea behind his back, and the creature raised its staff. "That's your name, isn't it? You're a Sontaran. How did I know that, aye?" He asked putting his sonic screwdriver away. "Fascinating, isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping us alive?" The Doctor tried.

Ross took aim at the Sontaran with his gun. "I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

"Well that's not going to work." He said to Ross and then turned to the Sontaran. "Cordolaine signal, am I right? Copper excitation stopping the bullets."

"Will mine work?" Rhea whispered to the Doctor, her hand reaching inside of her blazer and grasping the gun.

"No, don't use it." The Doctor whispered, harshly, not wanting to draw the Sontaran's attention towards Rhea. She ignored his hostile tone and instead took it to be a 'yes', but decided to let go of the gun nonetheless.

"How do you know so much?" The Sontaran asked the Doctor.

"Well…" The Doctor drawled.

"Who is he?" The Sontaran asked, turning to Luke.

Luke shook his head. "He didn't give his name."

"But this isn't typical Sontaran behaviour, is it? Hiding! Using teenagers, stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity! Shame on you!" He said, mockingly, leaning on the desk behind him.

"You dishonour me, sir!"

"Yeah, then show yourself." The Doctor said, smirking.

"I will look into my enemy's eyes!" He removed his blue helmet to reveal crinkly brown skin and deep set features on a dome-shaped neck with no visible neck.

Rhea's eyes widened and Ross recoiled. "Oh, my god…" He gasped.

"And your name?" The Doctor asked.

"General Staal, of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Staal the Undefeated!"

"Well, that's not a very good nickname. What if you do get defeated? Staal the Not-Quite-So-Undefeated-Anymore-But-Never-Mind?" The Doctor scoffed.

Rhea snorted in amusement and Ross chuckled in dismay. "He's like a potato - a baked potato - a talking baked potato." Ross murmured. Rhea felt as though he had hit the nail right on the head with that one.

"Now, Ross, don't be rude, you look like a pink weasel to him." The Doctor said to Ross.

Rhea gave him a look, hands on her hips. "You saying I look like a weasel?" Rhea asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor grinned at her. "A very beautiful weasel." He winked at her and she tried her hardest not to blush and turned her face so that he wouldn't see her smile.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Rhea asked, incredulously.

The Doctor ignored her. He went over to the side and picked up a racket and started to bounce a small tennis ball upon it. "The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy, dedicated to a life of warfare." He leaned his elbow on Ross' shoulder and twirled the racket in his hand. "A clone race, grown in batches of millions with only one weakness..."

"Sontarans have no weaknesses!" General Staal denied.

"No, it's a good weakness!" The Doctor said, looking straight at Staal.

"I thought you were meant to be clever?" Luke said, incredulously, looking back at the Doctor. "Only an idiot would provoke him."

"No, but the Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of their neck," He tapped the back of his neck with the racket. "That's their weak spot. Which means, they always have to face their enemies in battle... isn't that brilliant?" The Doctor said, grinning wide. "They can _never_ turn their backs!"

"We stare into the face of death!" General Staal said, firmly.

"Yeah? Well, stare at this." The Doctor threw the ball in the air and hit it with the racket, a perfect serve. The ball flew past General Staal and the hit the back of the teleport pod. It bounced back and smacked into the probic vent at the back of General Staal. The Doctor, Rhea and Ross ran for their lives when General Staal staggered and collapsed onto the floor and Luke rushed over to him.

"Oh my god, you're freakin' Batman!" Rhea crowed to the Doctor, who grinned at her, hand in hand, as the three of them ran down the Academy steps and jumped into the jeep, speeding away as fast as they could.

* * *

The UNIT jeep sped along the road.

"Greyhound 40 to Trap 1, repeat, can you hear me? Over." The Doctor shouted into Ross' radio and then gave up, putting it away.

"Why's it not working?" Ross asked as they drove back the same way they had come.

"Must be the Sontarans. If they can trace that, then they can isolate the ATMOS."

"Turn left." The navigation said.

The Doctor's eyes narrowed at the ATMOS device. "Try going right."

"It said 'go left'." Ross said, stubbornly.

"Yeah, we know! Go right!" Rhea shouted.

The jeep swerved when Ross let go of the wheel.

"I've got no control, it's driving itself! It won't stop!"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and tried to use it on the navigation system, but it didn't work.

Ross fiddled with the handles to the door. "The doors are locked!"

"Ah, it's deadlocked, I can't stop it!" The Doctor growled, frustrated.

"Turn left."

The jeep jolted and swerved left.

"The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car!" The Doctor shouted.

Suddenly, the tires screeched as the jeep veered off the road and started on a path across grass.

"We're heading for the river!" Rhea shouted, looking outside at the water that came closer and closer to them and gripping the seat tight.

"ATMOS, you're programmed to contradict my orders?" The Doctor asked the box.

"Confirmed."

"Anything I say, you'd ignore it?"

"Confirmed."

"Then drive into the river!" Ross and Rhea just stared at him. "I order you to drive into the river! Do it! Drive into the river!"

"Oh, I hope you know what you're doing." Rhea moaned as the car increased in speed.

"I never do, but let's give it a try."

The jeep sped towards the water, but suddenly skidded to a halt, brakes squealing, a few inches from the edge of the bank. The Doctor, Rhea and Ross leapt out of the car and ran for their lives.

"Turn right... left... right... left..."

"Get down!" The Doctor shouted as the three of them threw themselves to the floor, with the Doctor making sure that his body was covering Rhea's, and waited for the fiery explosion.

"Left, right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right-"

The navigation system emitted a small bang that let out a shower of sparks that didn't even reach the frame of the jeep. The Doctor looked up from his sprawled out position on the floor Rhea sticking her head out over his shoulder.

"Oh, was that it?" The Doctor said, looking slightly disappointed.

"Well, that was kind of pathetic. I was expecting an explosion. You know, like in the movies." Rhea said, lying back down and pouting. She noticed the position that she and the Doctor were in, with him hovering above her, his face extremely close to hers. "Doctor, not that I really mind, but if you want to get a leg over me, we should really find a better place." Rhea whispered into his ear. He blushed, realising the fact that his body was on top of Rhea's, and pulled himself back, allowing Rhea to sit up and wipe the bits of grass out of her hair

* * *

The Doctor rang the front doorbell of Donna's house, a nice little home in Chiswick. They could see her red hair approaching the door and she answered it.

"You would not believe the day we're having." Rhea said to Donna, pulling her out of the doorway.

The Doctor walked around the Nobles' car, bending down at one of the tyres to check the ATMOS attached underneath. Ross, Rhea and Donna stood nearby, with Donna frantically trying to ring Martha. The Doctor tapped the device underneath and decided to open the hood.

"I'll requisition us a vehicle." Ross said.

"Anything without ATMOS. Don't point your gun at people!" The Doctor warned Ross before he ran off, just as an old man appeared from the house.

"Is it them? Is it them? Is it the Doctor and Rhea?" The old man shouted, running around the car and catching sight of the two he was just shouting about.

"Ah! It's you!" He crowed.

"Who?" The Doctor asked and looked up to see an old man pointing at him.

"Oh! It's you!" The Doctor said, eyes widening. Rhea also looked surprised as she recognised the man from the last time she had been with this Doctor.

"What, have you met before?" Donna asked, looking between the three of them.

"Yeah, Christmas Eve. He and his lady friend disappeared right in front of me!"

"And you never said?!" Donna shouted, fixing her grandfather with a glare.

"Well _you_ never said!" He turned to the Doctor and Rhea. "Wilf, sir, ma'am. Wilfred Mott. You must be one of them aliens?!" He said, shaking the Doctor's hand, then Rhea's.

"Well…yeah, but don't shout it out." The Doctor said, grinning. "Nice to meet you properly, Wilf."

"Oh, an alien hand…"

Rhea just smiled wide when she shook Wilf's hand. "It's good to see you again, Wilf. And great to meet you properly this time."

"Donna, anything?" The Doctor asked, referring to whether she had managed to get Martha on the phone or not.

"She's not answering. What is it, "Sontiruns"?" Donna said, placing the emphasis on the first 'o'.

"Sontarans. But there's got to be more to it, they can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough. Is anyone answering?"

"Hold on." Donna said, holding a hand up to stop him from continuing.

"Don't tell me…Donna Noble." Rhea could hear Martha's voice on the phone.

"Martha! Hold on, he's here." Donna said, tossing the phone to the Doctor.

"Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file, Code Red, Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory tell them not to start shooting. UNIT will get massacred. I'll get back as soon as I can, you got that?" The Doctor said quickly into the phones.

"Code Red Sontaran. Gotcha." Martha agreed, before hanging up the phone.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and was fiddling with the car engine and the ATMOS that was attached.

"But you tried sonicing it before, you didn't find anything." Donna said.

"Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for."

"The thing is, Doctor, Miss Rhea, is that Donna is my only grandchild. You gotta promise me you're gonna take care of her."

Rhea snorted. "I bet she takes care of us." She said, winking at Donna.

"Oh, yeah that's my Donna." Wilf said, proudly. "Yeah, she was always bossing us around when she was tiny. The Little General we used to call her."

"Yeah, don't start." Donna said, embarrassed.

The Doctor was concentrating on a specific part with holes in a grid-like pattern.

"And some of the boys she used to turn up with, a different one every week! Yeah, who was that one with the nail varnish?"

"Donna, you naughty girl. A _different_ one _every_ week?" Rhea purred, nudging her with her shoulder, making her smile a little.

"Matthew Richards." Donna grimaced. "He lives in Kilbourn now. With a man."

"Oh, honey, that sucks. That happened to my cousin. She cried for days." Rhea said, reminiscing. She turned to Wilf. "Don't you worry, Wilf, Donna's going to be just fine with us." Rhea said, grinning at Donna.

Suddenly, large spike shot up from the holes in the ATMOS device that was in the engine and the Doctor reeled back with a shout.

"It's a temporal pocket! I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time."

"But, what is it hiding?" Rhea frowned, moving closer.

An older blonde woman appeared around the side of the car. "I don't know, men and their cars! Sometimes I think if I was a car..." She caught sight of the Doctor and Rhea when they turned to look at her. "Oh, it's you two! Doctor... what was it?" She glared at the two of them.

"Yeah, that's us." The Doctor said, waving, not actually looking at her, his head still buried under the hood.

"What, have you met him as well?" Wilf asked Donna's mother.

"Dad! It's the couple from the wedding! When you were laid up with Spanish flu! I'm warning you, last time those two turned up it was a disaster!"

"What wedding?" Rhea asked, looking between the three of them. "And couple?" Rhea asked the Doctor. "Anything I should know about, alien boy?"

Smoke started to pour from the exposed ends of the spikes on the ATMOS device and they were clouded with white gas.

"Get back!" The Doctor shouted, pulling Rhea along with him.

* * *

The Nobles' car gave another spurt of gas and sparked after the Doctor did something with sonic screwdriver.

"That'll stop it!" The Doctor said, victoriously.

The screwdriver finished whirring as the smoke died away. The Doctor then rushed back to peer under the hood again.

"I told you! He's blown up the car! Who is he anyway?! What sort of doctor blows up cars?!" Donna's mother shouted.

"Oh, not now Mum!" Donna angrily told her mother.

"Oh, should I make an appointment." Donna's mother said, insulted, and stalked off back to the house.

"That wasn't just exhaust fumes... Some sort of gas. Artificial gas." The Doctor looked thoughtful.

"And it's aliens, is it? Aliens?" Wilf asked, pointing at the ATMOS device.

"Doctor?" Rhea said, quietly, drawing his attention. "If they've got poisonous gas in these things," She gestured to the ATMOS. "Then there's poisonous gas in every car on Earth." She finished, swallowing hard, as she realised that could mean eight hundred million deaths in one moment. The Doctor turned around and looked at the other cars on the street, noticing the ATMOS label on the windshield for most of them.

Wilf climbed into the car. "It's not safe! I'm gonna get it off the street!"

Suddenly, the car doors suddenly slammed shut and all the locks clicked into place. Rhea's eyes widened as she realised that Wilf was trapped inside the car. The car turned on and smoke began to pour from the exhaust pipe and cloud the inside of the car.

"Hold on!" Donna and Rhea shouted, rushing to the front door. "Turn it off!" Rhea shouted at Wilf, trying her hardest to open the door.

"Grandad, get out of there!" Donna shouted, banging on the window with her fists.

"I can't! It's not locked! It's them aliens again!" Wilf shouted helplessly from inside the car.

Rhea pulled at the car door, growing more frantic as the fumes started to seep into the car. Sylvia stood at the front of her house and turned back in horror. "What're they doing? What've they done?"

"They've activated it!" The Doctor shouted, the sonic screwdriver still whirring madly, and he turned to look around.

Wilf started to gasp and choke as Donna frantically pulled at the door handle.

"There's gas inside the car! He's gonna choke!" Donna screamed.

"Doctor!" Rhea shouted and the Doctor rushed around and tried to open the door with his sonic screwdriver, but to no avail.

"It won't open!" The Doctor yelled.

Rhea turned to look at the street and she saw every single car parked was spitting out the same poisonous fumes into the atmosphere that was currently surrounding the Nobles' car and suffocating Wilf.

"It's the whole world…" She murmured, staring helplessly.

The Doctor rushed back to the car engine and then back to the car door, trying to stop the gas and save Wilfred, who was dying from the fumes that were overpowering him, at the same time.

"Get me out of here!" Wilf said, weakly, coughing loudly.

Mrs. Noble rushed into the house, just as Wilf collapsed inside the car. Rhea looked at the Doctor from her place at the car door, still trying to get it open by any means necessary, to see him standing in the middle of the street, powerless to stop the world from being consumed by the poisonous gas.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the ending to _The Sontaran Stratagem_ and I really can't wait to post _The Poison Sky_. I know these chapters are a bit shorter than usual, but _The Poison Sk_y ones are much longer. There was a little less action in this one, there will be more in _The Poison Sky_ and Rhea will be taking a more active role in those chapters. I did love writing the Doctor sticking his foot in his mouth with Rhea, she'll give it right back to him as well. And I hope you liked the little 'Batman' reference, when I watched the episode I thought that shot was amazing. And Rhea didn't get a chance to use her gun yet, maybe the next chapter. She is a bit trigger happy. And I wonder what'll happen when the Doctor tries to sacrifice himself to stop the Sontarans? What will Rhea do?


	11. The Poison Sky: Nuclear

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, Rose and I would go out for chips every day.

A/N: Here's The Poison Sky, everyone! I wonder what's going to happen in this chapter. What will Rhea do when the Doctor tries to sacrifice himself?

Notes on Reviews:

IKhandoZatman: Yeah, definitely, he is Batman. That shot was too perfect!

Tooclosefortety: Thanks, I do like writing Rhea make the Doctor blush, I think she really does like doing it, she does it on purpose. The Ninth Doctor does have a strong personality and I'd think they'd have a very intense relationship. They won't fight much in the first episode I write with the two of them, because Rhea would just be getting used to the Doctor in that body, but later on, I think they'd fight heaps, they're both incredibly stubborn.

Littlebirdd: I do really like your idea, it's very original, unfortunately I've already kind of planned out what I think will happen in Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways, but it is sort of similar to your idea. I do really like the idea of a human becoming a Time Lord (especially like Melody/River).

Romanadvoratrelu: I hope you like this chapter. I can't wait to write The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances because I get to write a jealous Doctor, but it will be a while before I get to the chapter. I want Rhea to get used to the ninth Doctor first. River and Rhea will be very good friends, they're very similar, flirty and trigger-happy. But Rhea will be protective over the Doctor in the first couple of chapters with River because she won't trust River at the beginning. And I can't wait to write Let's Kill Hitler, for that reason, because it would have Rhea warring between the need to protect the Doctor but her affection for River as well.

Kristina'sMyName: I'm so glad you liked the chapters and don't worry, I can't forget Wilfred. I wonder how he's going to get out of the car in this chapter! I totally agree with you about Jack, he's absolutely gorgeous. I always wondered what happened between Martha and Mickey, but I felt like they were just pairing them off because there was no one else, I mean the Doctor had Rose (kind of) so Mickey and Martha were the ones left. My affection for Rose depends on the episode as well, I liked her in _The Idiot's Lantern_ and _The Satan Pit_ and that's pretty much the only ones where I liked her character the entire way through. Donna was amazing, she is definitely my favourite companion. I agree with you about Amy, she did make me angry (especially about her treatment of Rory) in the first couple of episodes in Season 5 and the again in _The Impossible Astronaut_ when she shot the little girl in the space suit. River is freaking amazing. And so is Clara, definitely.

_Italics _– Rhea's thoughts/the Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Poison Sky: Nuclear

"_Get me out of here!" Wilf said, weakly, coughing loudly._

_Mrs. Noble rushed into the house, just as Wilf collapsed inside the car. Rhea looked at the Doctor from her place at the car door, still trying to get it open by any means necessary, to see him standing in the middle of the street, powerless to stop the world from being consumed by the poisonous gas._

"He's gonna choke! Doctor! Rhea!" Donna screamed.

The Doctor was busy under the bumper of the car, trying to use his sonic screwdriver to stop the gas coming from the ATMOS device.

"It won't open!" The Doctor shouted.

"Wilf." Rhea said, drawing the old man's attention. "Duck." She ordered, before pulling out her blaster, pulling the trigger and shooting at the windshield, making sure that Wilf was out of her line of fire. The blast shot through the middle of the glass window and shattered the whole windshield, glass falling in and out of the car, while Wilf curled into a ball against the window that Donna was at. She looked at Donna and at the Doctor, who just stared at her in shock. "Don't just stand there! Get him out of the car!"

"Thanks!" Wilf said to Rhea, as Donna and Rhea helped him up the driveway and closer to the house.

"I can't believe you just did that." Donna said to Rhea. "I mean, I always thought you just got better with practice, but wow, that was bloody amazing." Donna crowed.

"I did get better with practice." Rhea replied. "My uncle taught me how to shoot when I was a kid." She fell quiet.

"Get inside the house. Just try and close off the doors and windows." The Doctor said from behind them.

There was the screeching of tyres and Rhea looked back to see Ross pulling up in a black taxi.

"Doctor! Dr. Adwani! This is all I could find that hasn't got ATMOS." Ross said, from inside the car.

The Doctor ran to the taxi and Rhea passed Wilf to Donna's mother, who was holding an axe with one hand and glaring at her. Rhea rush down the driveway down to the car. "Donna, you coming?" Rhea shouted, looking back mid-run.

Donna looked at them for a moment. "Yeah!"

"Donna! Don't go! Look what happens every time that Doctor and his girlfriend appear! Stay with us, please." Donna's mother begged.

"You go, my darling!" Wilf told Donna, pushing her towards the driveway.

"Dad!" Mrs Noble shouted.

"Don't listen to her! You go with the Doctor! That's my girl!" Wilf shouted as Donna ran down the driveway and got into the car with the Doctor and Rhea. "Bye!"

Rhea watched as Donna gave her grandfather, who waved her goodbye, a sad smile as they drove away, feeling a pang in her chest. She might die here, or a couple of days from now, if her previous trips with the Doctor were anything to go by, and her mother would never know. She counted the days in her head, it had been more than a week since she had talked to her mother, let alone seen her. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat, not noticing the worried look that the Doctor gave her after she shut her eyes.

* * *

The taxi pulled up to the ATMOS factory and the Doctor, Rhea and Donna exited the car.

"Ross, look after yourself, get inside the building." The Doctor told Ross, shutting the door.

"Will do." He picked up his radio. "Greyhound 40 to Trap 1, I have just returned the Doctor and Dr. Adwani to base safe and sound, over."

"Trap 1, received. Over." Colonel Mace said over the radio.

"The air is disgusting!" Donna said, coughing loudly.

"It's not so bad for me, go on, get inside the TARDIS." He turned to Rhea. "Go with her."

"No." Rhea said, folding her arms stubbornly.

"Rhea, you're human. The gas will affect you."

"I'm staying with you, you're the guy who keeps saving my life, I am so not letting you go anywhere without me. And I can deal with the gas until we get into the factory." Rhea retorted.

The Doctor gave an exasperated growl and turned to Donna. "Oh, never given you a key!" He pulled a key out of his coat pocket and handed it to her. "Keep that! Go on, that's yours! Quite a big moment really!" He said, grinning.

"Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death!" Donna said.

"Good idea!" Rhea agreed, grabbed the Doctor and started running towards the factory.

"Where are you going?" Donna shouted.

"To stop a war!" The Doctor shouted back while they rushed to the UNIT field base while Donna ran in the opposite direction to the TARDIS.

* * *

"Right then, here I am, good." The Doctor said, throwing open the doors and walking into the makeshift office. "Whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle, there is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to us." He said, looking at the monitor.

"And what are you going to do?" The colonel asked them.

"We've got the TARDIS, we're gonna get on board their ship." The Doctor said.

"I wish you'd stop saying 'we'." Rhea muttered and ran up to Martha. "Come on." She said, tapping her on the shoulder, pulling her along with them.

* * *

The Doctor ran down the alleyway to find the TARDIS gone.

"Where's the TARDIS?" Rhea asked, looking around. "This is the right alley, yeah?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful as he paced around the alley. "Taste that, in the air. Yecch. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans, they've taken it. I'm stuck, on Earth like... like an ordinary person." He grimaced. "Like a human! How rubbish is that!" Rhea glared at him and he looked apologetic. "Sorry, no offence, but come on!"

Rhea walked up to him. "What about Donna? She was in the TARDIS." Rhea asked, worriedly, her eyebrows furrowing. He fixed her with her look.

"I'll get her back." He promised, clutching her shoulders.

"So, what do we do?" Martha asked him.

"Well... I mean it's shielded, they could never detect it." The Doctor said and then stopped. Rhea frowned as she looked at the Doctor, who was staring intently at Martha.

"What?" Martha asked him, noticing it as well.

"I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?" The Doctor asked her, carefully.

"No, what for?" Martha asked, confused.

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "The gas. Tell them to stay inside." Rhea wondered why Martha was being so apathetic about this, especially considering it was about her family.

Martha's eyes widened as if she had just realised something. "Course I will, yeah," She said, laughing a bit, just like someone did when they were trying to cover something up. "But, what about Donna? I mean, where is she?"

"Oh, she's gone home." Rhea's eyes snapped to the Doctor. She wondered why he was lying to Martha. "She's not like you, she's not a soldier. Right. So, avanti!"

* * *

They returned to the UNIT base.

"Change of plan!" The Doctor said, taking off his trench coat and throwing it somewhere in the office.

"Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor and Dr. Adwani." The colonel said, pleased.

"We're not fighting, we're not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it? Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?" The Doctor asked, looking around at the other soldiers.

"We're working on it." Martha said, looking at something on her monitor.

"It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches 80% density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City." A woman at a computer told them.

"And who are you?" The Doctor said, going over to that computer.

The woman stood up and saluted. "Captain Marion Prince, sir, ma'am."

"Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute." The Doctor said, exasperated with the number of people who had saluted him the past couple of hours, going back over to Colonel Mace.

"Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, Dr Adwani, coming from 5000 miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the cars." Colonel Mace informed them.

The Doctor pressed a button on the control panel and they could see the signal beaming out of Earth into space on the monitor.

"The Sontaran ship." Rhea murmured.

"NATO has gone to Defcon One, we're preparing a strike." The colonel told them.

"You can't do that, nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans." The Doctor said to the colonel.

The colonel shook his head. "You're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth."

"I've got that authority; I earned that a long time ago." The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to patch the UNIT systems to the Sontaran ship by sticking it into a panel. "Calling the Sontaran Command Ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is the Doctor."

"Doctor, breathing your last?" General Staal asked when his face appeared on the monitor.

"My God, they're like trolls." The colonel breathed, his mouth open.

"Yeah, loving the diplomacy, thanks." The Doctor said, sarcastically, to the Colonel. "So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?" The Doctor said, loudly, to the Sontarans.

"How dare you!" General Staal blustered.

"Oh, that's diplomacy!" Colonel Mace scoffed.

"Doctor, you impugn my honour!" General Staal shouted.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle 'cause then I'd have a field day." The Doctor commented. "But poison gas?"

"Since when do warriors resort to biological warfare? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it." Rhea told the general, standing behind the doctor and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky, and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour?" The Doctor mocked, and then his voice lowered. "Or, are you lot planning something else? Cause this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?"

"A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces." General Staal said.

"Aaah…" The Doctor made a sound of realisation. "The war's not going so well, then? Losing, are we?"

"Such a suggestion is impossible."

"What war?" Rhea asked, looking down at him.

"The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans." The Doctor explained. "It's been raging, far out in the stars for 50,000 years. _50,000 years_ of bloodshed, and for what?" The Doctor growled.

"For victory. Sontar-ha!" General Staal chanted, his staff striking his palm repeatedly.

"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" The other Sontarans in the vicinity began to chant, one fist continuously pounding their palm.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Give me a break." He muttered. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and changed the channel to the cartoon, Tommy Zoom.

"Well, that was a 'burn' if I ever saw one." Rhea commented, smirking down at the Doctor.

"Doctor. I would seriously recommend that this dialogue is handled by official Earth representation."

Rhea snorted. "Can you honestly find an 'official Earth representative' who wouldn't manage to screw this entire thing up?" The colonel tried to answer her but she continued, holding a finger up. "An Earth representative who knows just as much about the Sontarans as the Doctor does?" Rhea asked the colonel, fixing him with a stare. The colonel didn't say a word. Rhea smiled in satisfaction. She looked down at the Doctor to see him giving her a grin and she copied him, squeezing his shoulders.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to change the channel back to the Sontaran ship frequency.

"Finished?" The Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold!" The general gestured to a familiar blue police box behind him. "We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a TARDIS." He said, proudly.

"Well. As prizes go, that's... _noble_." The tone of his voice changed. " As they say in Latin, _Donna_ nobis pacem. Did you never wonder about its design? It's phone box. It contains a _phone_. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like if only we could communicate. You and I." He pointed at himself, then at the monitor. To anyone else, it would seem as though he was just randomly babbling, but when Rhea heard the word 'noble' and then 'Donna', she realised that he was trying to send a message to Donna, who was still stuck in the TARDIS. Hopefully she would be able to pick up the message on the TARDIS scanner.

"All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor." The general gloated.

"Big mistake though. Showing it to me." The Doctor remarked, leaning back in his seat, looking incredibly casual. He lifted up his sonic screwdriver, twirling it in his fingers. "Cause I've got a remote control."

"Cease transmission!" The general shouted and the screen went black.

"Oh well." The Doctor said, getting up.

"That's achieved nothing." The colonel argued.

"Oh, you'd be surprised." The Doctor said, going around the control panel.

* * *

Donna was sitting in the TARDIS, completely lost, when she decided to phone home.

"Mum? You all right?" She asked her mother when the woman answered the phone.

"Donna! Where are you, sweetheart?" Sylvia asked, worriedly.

"Is that her?" Wilf asked from his place at the curtains.

"Oh, just finish the job." Sylvia told her father. "Your granddad's sealing us in. He's sealing the windows. Our own house, and we're sealed in! All those things they said about pollution and ozone and carbon, they're really happening aren't they?" Sylvia asked her daughter.

"There's people working on it, Mum. They're gonna fix it, I promise." Donna said, thinking of the Doctor and Rhea and wondering how she could possibly help them from inside the TARDIS, trapped on a Sontaran ship. What did they want her to do?

"Oh, like you'd know, you're so clever." Sylvia snorted.

Donna just rubbed her forehead. "Oh don't start. Please, don't." Donna said, really fed up with those little snide comments her mother made.

"I'm sorry. I wish you were here." Sylvia murmured, starting to cry.

"Now, come on Sylvia, look. That doesn't help." Wilf took the phone from his daughter. "Donna? Where are you?"

Donna looked around the TARDIS. "It's sort of hard to say. You all right?"

"Yeah, fighting fit, yeah. Are they with you, the Doctor and Rhea?" Wilf asked Donna.

"Oh, those two!" Sylvia spat.

"No, I'm all on my own."

"Look, you promised they were gonna look after you." Wilf said to Donna.

"They will, Gramps." Donna reassured her grandfather. "There's…something they need me to do. I just don't know what." Donna said, tears in her eyes.

"Well, I mean, the whole place is covered, the whole of London they're saying and the whole, the whole world. It's the scale of it, Donna. I mean, how can two people stop all that?" Wilf asked, incredulously.

"Trust me. They can do it."

"Yeah, well if they don't, you tell them they'll have to answer to me."

"I will." Donna murmured into the phone, letting one tear fall. "Just as soon as I see them, I'll tell them."

"Huh." Wilf put the phone down and Donna ended the call and started to cry silently, while Sylvia looked outside the window to the fog covered streets.

* * *

The Doctor rushed to Martha, who was standing at the corner of the UNIT base and snatched the clipboard she was holding.

"There's carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides but 10% unidentified. Some sort of artificial heavy element we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it?" Martha asked, looking up at the Doctor, who was staring at the scanner.

"Must be something the Sontarans invented." The Doctor said.

"If it's not just poison, maybe they need the gas for something else. If they're a warrior race, there's gotta be a reason why they haven't just attacked and subjugated everyone yet." Rhea told the Doctor, looking at the clipboard.

"What could that be?" The Doctor asked, frustrated.

"Launch grid online and active." They heard Captain Price say loudly.

"Positions ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress." Colonel Mace ordered.

Rhea's eyes widened as she realised what they were preparing to do. "Fuck."

"What?! I told you not to launch!" The Doctor shouted at the colonel.

"The gas is at 60% density, 80% and people start dying, Doctor. We've got no choice." The colonel defended.

"Launching in 60, 59, 58, 57, 56…" The Doctor stepped back until he was against the wall and ran his hands roughly through his hair, mussing it up even more than it usually was, his eyes wide as he stared helplessly at the monitor. "Worldwide nuclear grid now co-ordinating. 54, 53..." Rhea turned to look at Martha, who had her eye on her phone, and frowned. _Why would Martha be looking at her phone in a time like this? Something isn't right with her. She didn't seem too concerned about her parents earlier in the alley, either._

"You're making a mistake, Colonel! For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you." The Doctor growled.

"North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and co-ordinated. Launching in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

Rhea stood next to the Doctor, her hands cupping her mouth as she exhaled. She shut her eyes waiting for the inevitable consequence of UNIT's actions.

"God save us." She heard the colonel murmur. _It was a bit late for prayer, wasn't it_.

"…4, 3, 2, 1…" The countdown continued.

She saw Martha make just the slightest movement out of the corner of her eye. So slight that had she been facing just a few inches to the right, she never would have seen it.

"0."

The screen went black.

"What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?" The colonel asked Captain Price.

Rhea saw the Doctor looking at Martha, suspiciously.

"What is it? What's wrong with her?" Rhea said, under her breath, making sure that Martha couldn't hear her.

"It's not her. It's a clone." The Doctor muttered.

Rhea stared at him for a second and he nodded. She exhaled and turned back to the monitor.

"Negative, sir. The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans." Captain Price told the colonel.

"Can we override it?" The colonel asked.

"Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you?" The Doctor growled.

Rhea turned to the Martha clone. "Got any clue?"

The clone frowned. "How should I know?"

Suddenly, there was a crackling heard from the Colonel's radio, and Ross' voice came in. "Enemy within! At arms! Greyhound 40 declaring absolute emergency. Sontarans within factory grounds, east corridor grid six."

"Absolute emergency, declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red!" Colonel Mace ordered over the radio.

"Get them out of there!" The Doctor hissed.

"All troops, open fire!" The colonel ignored them and gave the order.

The Doctor and Rhea froze.

Rhea held her breath.

"The guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work." Ross informed them over the radio.

"Oh my god." Rhea moaned. "They're completely defenceless."

"Tell the Doctor and Dr. Adwani it's that Cordolaine signal. They're the only ones who can stop them." Ross said and then there was only static.

Rhea shook.

"Greyhound 40, report. Over. Greyhound 40, report. Greyhound 40, report!" The colonel repeated.

"He wasn't Greyhound 40, his name was Ross Jenkins." Rhea said, quietly.

"Now, listen to me, and GET THEM OUT OF THERE!" The Doctor roared at the colonel.

"Trap One to all stations. Retreat. Order imperative, immediate retreat!"

* * *

"They've taken the factory." The colonel informed them.

"Why? They don't need it. Why attack now? What are they up to?" The Doctor paced around the office. "Times like this, I could do with the Brigadier." He turned back to the colonel. "No offense."

"None taken. Sir Alistair's a fine man, if not the best. Unfortunately he's stranded in Peru."

"Launch grid back online." Captain Price said and the computer screen turned on to show a map of the world. Then, the screen went black again.

"They're inside the system, sir. It's coming from within UNIT itself." Captain Price informed the colonel, flicking a switch.

"Trace it. Find out where it's coming from, and quickly. Gas levels?"

"66% in major population areas. And rising."

* * *

"Why are they defending the factory only after we were inside?" The colonel asked the Doctor.

"Because they wanted UNIT here. You gave them something they needed. Something now hidden inside the factory. Something precious." The Doctor muttered.

"Then we've got to recover it." He looked at the Doctor. "This Cordolaine signal thing, how does it work?"

"The bullets. It causes expansion of the copper shell."

"Excellent. I'm on it." The colonel said, getting up and leaving the mini-office.

The Doctor threw himself at the doorway. "For the billionth time, you can't fight Sontarans!" He shouted after the colonel.

The Doctor turned to her quickly, looking back every few seconds, just to make sure that the Martha clone wasn't looking their way.

"Phone. Have you got a phone? I need your mobile, quickly, hurry up!" The Doctor hissed quickly.

Rhea quickly reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out her mobile, which she had barely used since she had started travelling with the Doctor. She threw the phone at him and he caught it with both his hands, rushing into the furthermost corner of the office.

"Keep an eye on the clone." The Doctor muttered to her as he dialed a number.

"What's happened, where are you?" Donna's voice was heard on the mobile.

"Still on Earth. But don't worry, we've got our secret weapon." The Doctor said.

"What's that?" Donna asked, confused.

"You." The Doctor said.

"Oh. Somehow that's not making me happy. Can't you just zap us down to Earth with that remote thing?"

"Yeah, I haven't got a remote, though I really should. But I need you on that ship. That's why I made them move the TARDIS. I'm sorry, but you've got to go outside."

"But there's Sonterruns out there."

"Sontarans, but they'll all be on battle stations right now. They don't walk around having coffee. I can talk you through it."

"But what if they find me?" Donna asked, quietly.

The Doctor exhaled. "I know, and I wouldn't ask, but there's nothing else I can do. The whole planet is choking, Donna."

Donna started to walk to the TARDIS doors. "What d'you need me to do?"

"The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link."

"But, I can't even mend a fuse." Rhea frowned as she heard the lack of self-esteem in Donna's voice.

"Donna!" The Doctor growled. "Stop talking about yourself like that. You can do this. I promise."

Donna opened the TARDIS door to see a Sontaran a few feet away with his back to the TARDIS. She closed the door silently, resting against the back.

"There's a Sonterrun... Sontaran."

"Did he see you?" The Doctor asked, slowly, fear rising in him.

"No, he's got his back to me."

"Right, Donna, listen, on the back of his neck on his collar there's a sort of plug, like a hole. The Probic Vent. One blow to the Probic Vent knocks 'em out."

"But he's gonna kill me." Donna murmured, unable to believe that he was putting her through this.

"I'm sorry. I swear, I'm so sorry. But you've got to try." The Doctor whispered into the phone, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

There was no answer from Donna.

Rhea decided it was her time to cut in. She snatched the phone away from the Doctor, despite his protests, and held it to her ear. "Now, Donna, Donna, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I want you to go over to the TARDIS console. Remember that mallet that the Doctor was using on the TARDIS? The one I told him not to use? It's hanging underneath the console. Grab it." Donna picked up the mallet. "Now, that's going to be your weapon. I want you to go over to the doors and tip-toe out, as quietly as possible, and give one hard and fast strike to the notch-thingy on the back of the Sontaran's neck." Rhea waved her hand at the Doctor's correction of 'probic vent', ignoring him. "You get one hit, Donna. Make it quick and make it count. If you miss, well, drop yourself to the floor, avoid beams of light for as long as you possibly can, and see if you can get as many hits to the head with the mallet before he lasers you to death."

"That's not really comforting, Rhea." Donna hissed as she approached the doors. She snuck behind the Sontaran and hit its probic vent, knocking him out instantly.

"Back of the neck!" Donna whispered, triumphantly, a proud smirk plastered across her face.

Rhea relaxed just a bit, a similar smirk on her face as well. "Oh, you are awesome, Red, I'm gonna give the phone back to the Doctor, okay, good luck." She whispered into the phone, simultaneously keeping an eye on the Martha clone. She handed the phone back to the Doctor, who kissed her hard on the forehead in a show of thanks. Rhea flushed at the gesture of affection and smiled slowly up at him, beaming when he returned it with a grin of his own. She turned her attention back to the Martha clone, who was still staring intently at her computer.

"Now then you gotta find the external junction feed to the teleport."

"What... what's it look like?" Donna asked.

"A circular panel on the wall. Big symbol on the front, like a, like a letter T with a horizontal line through it. Or, or two Fs back to back."

"Well, there's a door."

"Should be a switch by the side."

"Yeah there is. But it's Sontaran-shaped, you need three fingers."

Rhea snorted and the Doctor paused, as though he couldn't believe what she had just said. "You've got three fingers." He said, slowly.

"Oh, yeah!"

Donna put her hand into the groove and the door slid open.

"I am through."

Rhea exhaled in relief. She hadn't even realised how tense her body had been, and she relaxed a bit more, letting her shoulders descend and unclenching her fists.

"Oh, you are brilliant, you are." The Doctor said, proudly, kissing the phone.

"Shut up. Right. T with a line through it."

Rhea smacked the Doctor's arm when she saw Colonel Mace enter the office through the door, since his back was turned to the window. He turned around and saw Colonel Mace.

"Got to go. Keep the line open!" He hissed to Donna.

"Counter-attack." The colonel ordered the soldiers.

The Doctor ran out of the mini-office, Rhea close behind him. "I said you don't stand a chance!"

The colonel ignored the Doctor. "Positions." He turned to them. "That means everyone!" He threw them both a gas mask each.

The Martha clone came up behind them. "You're not going without me." She said, strongly.

The Doctor eyed her. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said, blandly, the double meaning only evident to Rhea as she looked between the two of them.

* * *

On the Sontaran spaceship, Donna hid in a shadowy corner as a troop of Sontarans marched past.

* * *

The UNIT soldiers gathered outside the ATMOS factory, their vision obscured by the fog. Everyone had gas masks on, including the Doctor and Rhea. Colonel Mace showed them a gun.

"Oh my god, it's like a parody of Insidious." Rhea muttered, referring to the gas masks.

"Latest firing stock, what do you think, Doctor?" The colonel asked.

"Are you my mummy?" The Doctor asked.

Rhea snickered when she heard the absolutely random question from the Doctor. She realised that there was something behind the question. She would just have to wait and find out.

"If you could concentrate." The colonel demanded. "Bullets with a rad-steel coating, no copper surface. Should overcome the Cordolaine signal."

"But the Sontarans have got lasers! You can't even see in this fog, the night-vision doesn't work." Rhea retorted, turning around in a full circle.

"Thank you, Dr. Adwani, thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening." The colonel said, turning away from them. He pulled off his gas mask and addressed the soldiers. "Attention, all troops! Sontarans might think of us as primitive. As does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals. But no more! From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back and we show them! We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do! Trap One to Hawk Major! Go, go, go!"

Everyone looked up as a loud sound came from the air above them and Rhea stumbled from the force of the entrance. The fog started to clear and a massive ship with engines running at full speed appeared above them.

"It's working! The area's clearing. Engines to maximum!" The colonel ordered.

"It's the Valiant!" The Doctor cried, staring up in amazement.

"What's the Valiant?" Rhea shouted at the Doctor over the noise of the engines.

"Spoilers!"

"UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant reporting for duty, Doctor and Dr. Adwani! With engines strong enough to clear away the fog." The colonel informed the two of them.

They took off the gas masks as the smog was cleansed from the air around them.

"Woah, that's brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed, grinning, pulling off the gas mask and ruffling his hair.

"Getting a taste for it, Doctor?" The colonel asked, a knowing smile on his face.

The Doctor grimaced. "No, not at all. Not me." He said, walking away.

"Valiant, fire at will!" The colonel ordered.

A bunch of green beams shot out of the Valiant from different places and united as one blast, firing at the ATMOS factory. At the same time, the UNIT soldiers started an attack on the ground too.

"East and north secure. Doctor?" The colonel rushed away with the soldiers as they ambushed the factory.

The Doctor pulled the phone back to his ear. "Donna, hold on. We're coming." The Doctor whispered before putting the phone back in his pocket.

The Martha clone appeared and approached them in a rush.

"Shouldn't we follow the colonel?" The Martha clone asked them both.

"Nah, you, me and Rhea, Martha Jones. Just like old times!" The Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it in the air, trying to find the Sontaran signal. He pointed the screwdriver to his left and kept it close to his ear, following the signal. "Alien technology, this way!"

The Doctor, Rhea and the Martha clone headed down to the basement, where the signal was originating from.

"No Sontarans down here. They can't resist a battle. Here we go." The Doctor said.

When they entered the room, the entire place was deserted, except for Martha, dressed in a white hospital gown, in some sort of chamber, with electrodes attached to her head, in some sort of hypnotic sleep. The Doctor and Rhea ran to her.

"Ooh, Martha, I'm so sorry." The Doctor murmured, looking down at her.

Rhea placed two fingers underneath her jaw and checked her pulse. "She's still alive." Rhea let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw the Martha clone, pointing a gun at them. She turned around to face the clone, but the Doctor didn't stop observing the real Martha.

"Wish you carried a gun now?" The clone asked.

"Not at all." The Doctor said.

"I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time." The clone said, smugly.

Rhea shrugged. She lashed out with her leg and struck the bottom clone's wrist with the front of her heels in a crescent kick. The clone threw and dropped the gun with a shriek of pain, clutching her wrist, and Rhea kicked the gun away, sending it into the darkness.

"Not so smug now, are you?" Rhea asked, smirking.

"You were doing exactly what I wanted. I needed to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent!" The Doctor paced around.

"When did you know?" The clone asked, still clutching her wrist, which Rhea looked upon with pride.

"What, you? Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple." He touched his finger to his hairline. "And, frankly, you smell. You might as well have worn a T-shirt saying 'clone'." He commented, walking back over to Rhea, who still hadn't left Martha's side. "Although, maybe not in front of Captain Jack. You remember him, don't you? Cause you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her," He looked down at Martha. "To keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive." He growled and reached down, pulling the device off of Martha's head.

Martha arose with a scream, her eyes shooting open. At the same time, the clone fell to the ground in agony with the exact same scream.

* * *

A/N: Well, a cliffhanger, I suppose. And Rhea finally got to use her gun in this chapter. And it was a good shot too! And Rhea got a chance to showcase her fighting talents in this chapter as well, and instruct Donna on the Sontaran ship. Rhea managed to tell of Colonel Mace and use her fighting knowledge to banter against the Sontarans as well. I did love writing this chapter, but I think I loved writing the next one just as much. Next one's going to be a doozy. What will Rhea do when she finds out the Doctor plans on sacrificing himself to save the Earth? Will she go with him on the Sontaran ship? Instead of him? How will she react?

Anyway, Read and Review!


	12. The Poison Sky: Sacrifice

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, I'd share an apartment with Martha.

A/N: Well, here's the end of The Poison Sky! What's Rhea going to do in this chapter?

Notes on Reviews:

IKhandoZatman: I'm very happy that you liked it!

Romanadvoratrelu: See, I can't really tell you that yet. It'll become obvious if I ever end up doing Classic Who. The Doctor's known Rhea for a long time (maybe since he was on Gallifrey), and I'll give you a hint, Sarah Jane will recognise her when I do _School Reunion_.

YingWhiteyWolf: At this point, I'm trying to restrict their interactions to flirting, because Rhea doesn't really have those feelings for the Doctor yet. There'll just be a lot of innuendo between them, but it won't lead to anything just yet. There'll be a couple of episodes where their relationship does progress. I know I have given away a couple of hints about their future relationship (and Rhea has recognised it herself), but there will be a massive lead-up to where their relationship settles down and Rhea accepts it.

Queenylime2: Well, you'll see Rhea's reaction to the Doctor sacrificing himself in this chapter. Rhea definitely won't take it well, but you'll find out here. She will be very pissed off at him. The ninth Doctor will be in the next chapter, but I won't tell you what episode I'm doing with him. Rhea and the ninth Doctor won't argue as much in the first episode I do with them, because she'd still be getting used to him at that point, plus, she'll know that the ninth Doctor was the first regeneration after the Time War, she'll want to know what makes him tic first. It will be a very intense relationship, I can't wait to post it. I'm glad you like their relationship. He will be very 'Oncoming Storm' when she is in danger, especially in _The Idiot's Lantern_ and _New Earth_.

Tooclosefortety: I'm so glad you liked the chapter! Yeah, Rhea's reaction will be good. I wonder what the Doctor will do. The next episode will be one with the ninth Doctor in it but I won't tell you just yet what it is.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Poison Sky: Sacrifice

_Martha arose with a scream, her eyes shooting open. At the same time, the clone fell to the ground in agony with the exact same scream._

Rhea wrapped her arms around Martha, grasping her close to her chest, smoothing her hair away from her head. Martha gripped her wrists tightly as she came to terms with what had just happened.

"It's all right. It's all right, I'm here, I'm here. I've got you, got you." Rhea murmured, comforting the panic-stricken woman.

"There was this thing, Rhea, this alien, with this head…" Martha panted, holding onto Rhea's blazer for dear life.

The mobile rang.

"Oh, blimey I'm busy." The Doctor muttered, pulling the phone out of his pocket and answering it. "Got it?" He asked Donna.

"Yes. Now hurry up!" Donna hissed through gritted teeth.

"Take off the covering. All the blue switches inside, flick them up like a fuse box. And that should get the teleport working." The Doctor instructed her.

Martha looked around, pulling herself from Rhea's embrace, and noticed her clone, sitting on the ground and panting.

"Oh, my god. That's me." She breathed.

Rhea helped her out of the chamber she had been lying in, wrapped her up in the Doctor's trench coat, and Martha unsteadily managed to walk over to the clone, who was clutching her throat, gasping for breath, and kneel down.

The Doctor was working on the teleport while Martha kneeled beside her clone.

"Don't touch me!" The clone shouted, recoiling from Martha's hand.

"It's not my fault. The Sontarans created you. But... you had all my memories."

The clone shook. "You've got a brother, sister, mother and father." The clone whispered slowly.

"If you don't help me, they're gonna die." Martha said, earnestly.

"You love them." The clone whispered.

"Yes." Martha nodded. "Remember that?"

"The gas! Tell us about the gas!" The Doctor shouted through a gap in the teleport structure.

The clone glared at Rhea and the Doctor. "They're the enemy!"

"Then tell me." Martha offered. "It's not just poison, what's it for? Martha, please!"

"Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic 5."

"Clonefeed! It's clonefeed!" The Doctor shouted, smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"What's clonefeed?" Rhea asked, standing up and walking over to him.

"Like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading, they're converting the atmosphere. Changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Cos the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give 'em a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. That gas isn't poison, it's food!" The Doctor ranted, before going back to work on the teleport.

"My heart…it's getting slower." The clone murmured.

"There's nothing I can do." Martha whispered.

"In your mind, you've got so many plans. There's so much that you wanna do." The clone said.

"And I will." Martha said, smiling. "Never do tomorrow what you can do today, my mum says. Cause..."

"…cause you never know how long you've got. Martha Jones... All that life." The clone finished. She trembled and sank back against the metal pole she was leaning on, her eyes shut.

Martha pulled off her engagement ring from the clone's finger and put it back on her own.

"Doctor." Donna hissed into the phone.

The Doctor picked up the phone.

"Blue switches done." A door slid open and Sontarans marched in. "But they've found me!" Donna cried.

"Now!" The Doctor shouted, pointing the sonic screwdriver to the teleport pod, activating it. Donna, who was standing inside the pod on the Sontaran ship, disappeared and reappeard in the clone lab. She made a sound of relief and ran to hug the Doctor and Rhea.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?" Donna sobbed.

"Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me! Gotta bring the TARDIS down." The Doctor said, hurriedly, shoving Donna into Rhea's arms, who hugged the redhead with relief.

"Oh, thank God you're safe, Red." Rhea whispered, hugging Donna tightly, who hugged her back with the same strength.

The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the teleport again and the TARDIS was beamed back down in its original spot.

"Right, now. Martha, you coming?" The Doctor asked Martha, who was still kneeling beside her clone.

"What about this nuclear launch thing?" Martha asked, gesturing to her phone.

"Just keep pressing N, we want to keep those missiles on the ground." The Doctor instructed her.

Donna caught sight of the dead clone.

"But there's…two of them." Donna muttered, in shock.

"Yeah, long story." Rhea told her.

All four of them got inside the teleport. "Here we go. The old team, back together! Well, the new team." The Doctor said, grinning.

"We're not going back on that ship!" Donna shouted.

"No, no, no. No. I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to..." The Doctor activated the teleport and they reappeared in the Rattigan Academy. "...here! The Rattigan Academy, owned by..."

Luke pointed a gun at them, standing a bit far away for a good shot. "Don't tell anyone what I did! It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they..." He started, storming towards them.

The Doctor grabbed his gun, pulling it forcefully out of his hand. "If I see one more gun..." The Doctor muttered, throwing the gun away and stalking forwards.

_Well, that was definitely hot._

"You know, that coat, sort of works." Donna commented, eyeing the Doctor's coat on Martha.

"Feel like a kid in my dad's clothes." Martha muttered.

Donna just laughed.

* * *

The Doctor began to assemble a device from things found in Luke's laboratory, while Rhea, Martha, Donna and Luke watched.

"That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles, they were holding back. Because, caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground-to-air engagement could've sparked off the whole thing." The Doctor explained in a rush, pulling random pieces of equipment that were lying on the table and attaching them together.

"You mean set fire to the atmosphere?" Rhea asked.

"Yeah. They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army. And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?" The Doctor growled.

"They promised me a new world." Luke defended.

"You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this! An atmospheric converter."

* * *

The Doctor ran outside with the atmosphere converter.

"That's London. You can't even see it. My family's in there." Donna trembled. Rhea bit her lip, unsure of what to say to Donna to make her feel better.

"If I can get this on the right setting…" The Doctor muttered to himself.

"Doctor, hold on, you said the atmosphere would ignite." Martha said, taking a step towards him.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" The Doctor pressed a button on the atmospheric converter and a flare shot up into the air, forcing the sky to ignite.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please..." The Doctor chanted, crossing his fingers.

The air of the Earth was engulfed in flame, wiping out the toxic gas from the atmosphere, revealing clear, blue sky, and allowing the humans to breathe freely again.

"He's a genius!" Luke said, in shock.

"Just brilliant." Martha said, smiling.

"Now we're in trouble." The Doctor muttered, picking up the converter, hefting it up onto his shoulders and running back into the building, back to the room that held the teleport pod.

* * *

The Doctor walked ahead of everyone else and stepped into the teleport pod, still holding the atmospheric converter.

"Right, so... Donna, thank you. For everything. Martha, you too. Oh... so many times. Luke, do something clever with your life. And Rhea…" He started, smiling at her.

"You're saying goodbye." Donna gasped.

"Don't you dare." Rhea hissed, taking a step forward and then stopping, her entire body trembling, in rage or in terror, she wasn't sure.

"Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so..." The Doctor explained, looking down.

"You're gonna ignite them." Rhea whispered, coming to the same conclusion as Donna and Martha.

"You'll kill yourself." Donna protested.

"Just send that thing up, on it's own. I don't know... put it on a delay." Martha tried.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Donna hissed.

"I've got to give them a choice." The Doctor murmured.

"But you can't." Rhea whispered dumbly. She cocked her head and just stared at him. He couldn't die. Not now. They had just begun. At least for her.

"Rhea." That was all he was able to say. His eyes were hard and they were set.

He dropped the device as lightly as he possibly could and stormed over to her. He hauled her up against his body and slammed his mouth down on hers. She squeaked in surprise. Now there was something she really hadn't been expecting. His hands clutched her face and skull in desperation or in pain or in regret, she wasn't sure, but she didn't have time to second-guess it right now. Not if this was the last shard of contact she was going to have with him. His fingers wound into her hair, pulling it out of the ponytail and digging and twisting into the strands. Her arms slipped underneath his arms so that her nails could dig into his shoulder blades, giving her leverage against his body, which she pressed up against, writhing. She whimpered as his mouth became more insistent and deepened the kiss. It was hot, wet, and his lips tasted of something dark and time flavoured that she couldn't identity, but she loved instantly, greedy for more.

She shook in his arms, feeling boneless. His thumbs moved from her messed up black curls until they rested against her temples. His lips left hers for the briefest moment. His eyes flickered down, looking at her swollen red lips, a sense of male pride and satisfaction filling him, knowing that he had made her look this way. He was still so close to her that if his head moved, just slightly, his lips would be on hers all over again.

She froze.

"I'm sorry." He murmured against her lips.

There was an intense pressure in her head, not unlike the beginnings of a headache. It wasn't painful, just simply uncomfortable. Her eyes widened. She struggled against his grip for a second, unsure and scared of what he was about to do. The tension slowly drained out of her limbs, and her eyes rolled back into her head. She sank down in his arms and he caught her just before she hit the floor. He placed her on the floor, her hair spread around her head, as if she were floating. He smoothed back her hair, lingering on the soft curls that he had mussed up with his insistent fingers. He pressed his lips against her forehead and then rested his cheek in that exact same spot, just revelling in her warmth and skin for a moment.

Donna and Martha rushed to Rhea, both of them sinking to their knees on either side of her, Martha placing two fingers against the vein in her wrist, checking her pulse.

"What happened? What did you do?" Donna asked him, staring up at him, shocked.

The Doctor swallowed. "I had to. She never would have let me go alone, if I hadn't." He told them, earnestly, trying to make himself believe his own story.

"Doctor…" Martha started, shaking her head.

"Don't argue with me, Martha Jones." He said, sharply. He softened his tone. "I don't know what's going to happen to her now. I don't know if she'll keep jumping or not. If she doesn't… if she stays here, take care of her." The Doctor pleaded, looking between the two women.

Donna nodded without hesitation. This woman on the ground had done so much for her, so much that she didn't even know, that she might never know.

Martha looked hesitant, still a little angry at what he had just done to Rhea. "Of course I will." Martha said. Rhea was still her friend. A great friend, even if Rhea didn't know that.

"Thank you." He said, walking back to the teleport and activating it, sending him directly to the Sontaran ship with the atmospheric converter.

"Oh, excellent!" General Staal cried.

"General Staal, you know what this is. But there's one more option. You can go. Just leave. Sontaran High Command need never know what happened here." The Doctor attempted to reason with him, with his hand on the trigger.

"Your stratagem would be wise if Sontarans feared death. But we do not. At arms!" He ordered and the other Sontarans took their lasers into their hands, who still had finger hovering above the trigger.

"I'll do it, Staal. If it saves the Earth, I'll do it." The Doctor insisted. _If it means saving her_, _then yes, I'll do it_.

"A warrior doesn't talk, he acts."

"I am giving you a chance to leave." The Doctor growled.

"And miss the glory of this moment?"

"All weapons targeting Earth, sir. Firing in 20." The Sontaran voice came from the loudspeakers.

"I'm warning you." The Doctor shouted.

"And I salute you! Take aim!" General Staal ordered and the other Sontarans aimed their lasers at the Doctor.

"Shoot me, I'm still gonna press this! You'll die, Staal." The Doctor announced.

* * *

Rhea's eyes fluttered open as her mind tried to comprehend the sensory input. The events before her sudden unconscious state came back to her and she sat up quickly. Donna and Martha were at her side, tears in their eyes.

"Where is he?" She barked, looking around the room and only seeing Donna and Martha and Luke, who was busy toying with the wires of the teleport.

"He teleported to the Sontaran ship." Donna said, quietly.

"And you let him?" She demanded.

"We couldn't stop him, Rhea." Martha whispered.

"You could have tried." Rhea hissed.

And it hit her.

He was gone.

_The idiot_.

A familiar cold, numbing ache spread through her limbs and nerves and settled in her stomach, not even allowing her to cry for the amazing man who had managed to change her life so significantly in such a small amount of time.

Her mouth parted as if she were about to say something, but no words were said. No words could be said. She pushed herself to a standing position, wondering whether she would actually be able to stay on her feet without buckling. Martha and Donna followed her lead, each gripping a hand when they stood next to her. She wanted to rip her hands out of theirs. She didn't like it. Her skin crawled. It was too much, too soon.

Martha and Donna noticed Luke. "What are you doing?" Martha asked Luke, taking a step closer to him.

* * *

"Knowing that you die, too." The general remarked.

"My death doesn't frighten me." The Doctor said, plainly. _Rhea, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know you'll hate me for this, but I've got no other choice._

"Firing in 15." The loudspeaker voice said.

"For the glory of Sontar! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" The general chanted.

"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" The other Sontarans intoned.

"I'll do it!" The Doctor shouted.

"Then do it!"

* * *

"Something clever." Luke said, before he stood up and pressed a button, transporting himself to the Sontaran ship and, at the same time, zapping the Doctor back to the Academy.

"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!" The Sontarans continued to chant.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3..." The voice from the loudspeakers counted down.

The Sontarans froze in their mantra when they caught sight of Luke and his finger on the button.

"Sontar? Ha!" Luke shouted and pressed the button of the converter.

"…1." The voice ended.

The spaceship exploded before they could launch their attack on Earth.

* * *

The Doctor appeared in the teleport pod at the Rattigan Academy, on his knees, confused and panting. He crawled forward and sat at the edge of the pod, still shocked. Martha ran to him, smiling, and nestled by his side. Donna walked to him slowly and gave the Doctor a big whack on the arm for scaring them to death, then grasped his arm tightly, so relieved that he was alive.

They all turned to Rhea, who hadn't moved from her spot, her mind still comprehending the fact that he was here, he was alive. She stood frozen in that spot, just staring at him.

"Rhea?" Martha said, cautiously.

Her face was pale, as if someone had forcibly drained all the blood out of her face. She closed her eyes and exhaled, thanking every deity she believed in for giving him back to her, praying in English, in Italian and in Hindi, but using every inch of her self control to keep her face blank of any expression. _Don't you dare let them see you cry, Rhea_. Her mind was hysterical, warring between anger and gratitude, not sure which one to focus on. She spun on her feet, turning her back to the three of them and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Rhea pulled open the doors of the TARDIS and strode inside, the Doctor, Martha and Donna following behind her. The drive back to the ATMOS factory was done in complete and uncomfortable silence, with Rhea just staring out the window of the car, not saying a word nor looking at anyone for longer than a moment. The Doctor felt a pang in his heart. Rhea had never gone this long without saying at least one word to him. Even in the times when she had been angry, she had always blown up by now. Her giving him the silent treatment was even worse, the deafening, all-consuming silence was getting to him.

"I'm just going to go say goodbye to my mum and granddad." Donna muttered, staring at Rhea.

"Yeah, I'll, uh, give you a ride, Donna." Martha said, eyeing Rhea's tense posture.

They both left, leaving the Doctor and Rhea alone in the TARDIS.

Rhea leaned against one of the coral struts. She felt the TARDIS thrum against her body, as if the sentient ship were asking her what was wrong. She gripped the strut tighter with her fingers, the thrum reminding her of her mother's hugs, wishing, even greater than she had when she had seen Donna with her family, that her mother was here, right now, with her.

The Doctor walked up the ramp and stood opposite to her, but Rhea was determined not to look at him.

"Rhea, I'm sorry." He tried. He reached out to touch her, but she flinched, pushing herself from the strut and walking over to the console.

His hand fell back to his side. He had to admit, he was stung. She had never flinched away from him like that before, at least, not that violently.

"I know what I did was wrong, Rhea. And-"

Rhea spun on her feet, the fury visible on her face, barely holding back a frustrated scream. "You're a friggin' child, you know that!" Rhea shouted at him, storming towards him so that she was only three feet away from him.

"Rhea-" He began.

"No!" Rhea stopped him. "You had no right to do that to me."

"I was just trying to protect you!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"I don't need you to protect me!" Rhea screamed at him. "I am a grown woman. I don't need you to keep me from doing what is right for me. Who the hell do you think you are?" Rhea demanded, glaring at him. "You knocked me out! What kind of spineless move was that?"

The Doctor flinched at her hostile tone. "I understand that you're upset-"

"Oh, you understand now, huh?" Rhea asked, her voice brimming with sarcasm and anger. "What the hell were you thinking half an hour ago?" She paused, thinking of something else. "You kissed me!" She hissed.

The Doctor swallowed hard. "Yes, I did." And he winced.

"Why?" She growled.

He looked at her, pleadingly. "I can't tell you, Rhea. Please."

"Did you just kiss me so that you could knock me unconscious?" Rhea asked, dreading the answer. She didn't know which one would be better. Yes, that the best kiss she had ever gotten was only a ruse so that she wouldn't follow him into life threatening danger, or no, that the kiss was real and that may mean feelings and emotion and consequences that knotted up her stomach like no tomorrow.

He stood rigid and straight and she knew she wouldn't get that specific answer out of him for awhile. They shared one of their patented, tension-filled, familiar stares. She blew out a breath angrily, and looked away from him.

"Tell me, what can I do to fix this?" The Doctor begged, fully prepared to grovel for her forgiveness, if need be. _I don't like seeing you angry or hurt because of me._

He took a step closer to her and Rhea took a step back. He took another step and so did she. This pattern continued until Rhea realised she had nowhere else to go. She tried to walk away from him, but he reached out and gripped her tightly by the forearms, making sure that she would stand still and not get away. She could have easily escaped his grip, but she wouldn't hurt him, they both knew that, and it made their situation all the more worse.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, earnestly, staring into her eyes.

"You took my choice away from me." Rhea whispered, making sure to avoid his eyes, trying to maintain that strong, resolute state of mind.

"Believe me, I wasn't trying to hurt you. I would never intentionally hurt you, Rhea. I did it because I knew you'd never let me go on that ship alone, and I'd never want to put you in that sort of situation on purpose. Don't you see how much you mean to me?" The Doctor asked, frowning.

She considered the consequences of what she was about to say to him. She finally formed the courage to look him in the eye. "Don't ever do that again." She said, strongly. "If you do, I won't forgive you a second time." She warned

"I won't." They both knew that the other didn't mean it, but there was nothing either of them could do about it for now.

He wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, his arms winding around her shoulders and her arms winding around his thin waist. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his twin heartbeat and he rejoiced in the ephemeral display of affection and emotion from her, at least from this Rhea. She looked up at him, breaking the embrace before it became entirely too much.

"I'm glad you're alive." Rhea said, hoarsely, trying to put just a dash of humour into her words, giving him a shaky smile.

"Me too." He said, grinning down at her, pushing a lock of her hair away from her eye and stroking her cheekbone with his thumb.

"Space, alien boy, personal, private space, which you're invading right now." She said, pushing herself away from him and walking back over to the console. She wiped a tear from her eye, before it had the audacity to even fall down her cheek.

* * *

Donna and Wilf's eyes were drawn to the door when Sylvia entered, holding plastic bags filled with groceries, and went into the kitchen where the two were sitting.

"The streets are half-empty. People still aren't driving. There's kids on bikes all over the place, it's wonderful. Unpack that lot, I'm gonna see if Suzette's all right." She told Donna and put the bags on the kitchen counter before leaving.

"I won't tell her. Best not. Just keep it as our little secret, eh?" Wilf said, winking at his granddaughter.

"Yeah." Donna said, smiling softly.

"And you go with him, that wonderful Doctor and his lady friend. You go and see the stars. And then bring a bit of 'em back, for your old Gramps."

Donna nodded, then got up to hug him and kissed his head.

"Love you." She murmured, walking out the door and fighting back the tears by pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

* * *

"Is something else the matter, Rhea?" The Doctor asked, hesitating. She hadn't said a word since their hug ten minutes ago, she just stared emptily.

"Hmm…" Rhea made a sound, as if only realising that he was here now. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Is there anything else that's bothering you?" The Doctor asked.

"It's just…it's just Donna." Rhea sighed.

The Doctor frowned. "You don't like Donna?" That didn't sound like the Rhea the Doctor knew. Rhea loved Donna, thought she was the best companion the Doctor had ever taken on, except for maybe Ace and Sarah Jane.

"No!" Rhea exclaimed. "No, it's not that…it's just…seeing Donna with her family, it made me realise how much I miss mine." She ended, quietly.

"Oh, wait." The Doctor exclaimed, pulling Rhea's phone out of his pocket and opening the back. And he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on, the sonic whirring madly as it went to work on the circuitry of the phone. "Ah!" He cried in triumph, throwing it to her. She caught it on reflex, looking at him with confusion and wonder. "Call her." He said, gesturing to the phone.

Rhea frowned. "Are you screwing with me?" She asked, suspiciously.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Just call her."

Rhea sighed and decided to humour him. She dialled the number for her mother's mobile and listened to the rings.

"Rhea?" Her mother silvery voice came over the phone after three rings. "_Tesoro_, is that you?"

Rhea swallowed hard and almost dropped the phone in shock, her eyes wide. Her grip on the phone tightened and she held it with both hands. "Mama?" Rhea whispered hoarsely into the phone.

"Rhea, you're the one who called me, why the hesitation?" Her mother asked, laughing.

"It's really you." Rhea whispered.

"Of course it's me." Her mother's voice turned concerned. "Are you all right, Rhea?"

A strangled sound escaped Rhea's mouth before she could stop it and she blinked furiously to stop the tears that had pooled in her eyes from spilling.

"Rhea, are you all right?" Seraphina asked, worriedly.

"I'm fine." Rhea croaked, smiling. "Yeah, I just…I just wanted to hear your voice."

Seraphina laughed and Rhea's smiled widened. "I just talked to you this morning."

Rhea frowned. "What day is it?"

"Saturday, remember?"

Rhea's eyes widened. It had been Saturday when Rhea had left with the Doctor and it was still Saturday for her mother. "What time is it?" Rhea asked.

"Two in the afternoon." Seraphina answered. "I'm at the shop. Someone just ordered three dozen long-stemmed roses. I'm just putting them together."

Rhea exhaled. She had only been gone a couple of hours for her mother, not enough time for her mother to miss her.

"Is this about tonight?" Seraphina suddenly asked. "Do you not want me to come over? I was going to make your favourite spinach and mushroom lasagne and pecan pie for dessert. I thought we could watch 'Titanic', you know, for the fiftieth time ever. Have a real girl's night in." Rhea could practically hear the frown in her mother's voice and her underlying disappointment.

"No, it's just that something's come up." Rhea said, leaning against the console next to the Doctor. "I have to go out of town for awhile. I won't be back until next week." Rhea said, running her fingers through her air.

"Oh, what happened?" Seraphina asked, tensing.

"Um, it's a work thing. Just a conference. It's in Los Angeles." Rhea said, sniffling, rubbing her mouth with her palm.

"Oh, that's sad, I was looking forward to seeing you again." Seraphina confessed. "Oh, there is one other thing, by the way, who was that man who answered your phone this morning?"

Rhea's eyes widened. _Fuck, what do I say now?_ She looked at the Doctor, who was trying his hardest to act like he wasn't listening into the conversation. She pressed the phone to her collarbone and stared at him, helplessly.

"What should I say?" Rhea hissed.

"How should I know?" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Shh." Rhea growled, quietening him down. "You're the one who answered the phone."

Realisation dawned on his face and he looked sheepish. "Tell her I'm a colleague or something." He said, quickly.

"He's a colleague." Rhea said into the phone, crossing her fingers and praying that her mother would believe her.

"Oh, what's his name?" Seraphina asked.

Rhea looked at the Doctor again, helplessly.

"John Smith." He hissed.

Rhea groaned and repeated the name into the phone.

"Oh, well, he sounds nice, Rhea, a keeper, that one." Seraphina murmured.

Rhea snorted. _Yeah, sure._ "Thanks, mama."

"I'd better go, Rhea, these flowers aren't going to arrange themselves." Seraphina said, giggling.

Rhea smiled when she heard her mother laugh. "Yeah, I'll talk to you soon, okay."

"Call me when you get to Los Angeles." Her mother ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Rhea said, laughing.

"_Ciao_, Rhea." And Seraphina put the phone down.

She just stared at it, in her hands, for a minute or two, a small pained smile painted on her face.

"Better?" The Doctor cautiously asked.

Rhea pursed her lips and turned to him, smiling sadly. "I just miss her."

His hand reached across the rim of the console to touch her fingers softly. "I know." He said, meaning every word.

Her smile grew and she leaned over, hesitating for a moment before pressing a warm kiss to his cheek. Her smile grew into a grin when she saw his shock and his resulting blush and she looked down, smiling.

"Thank you." Rhea said, sincerity and gratitude shining in her eyes.

He grinned back at her and merely flicked a button on the console.

The doors suddenly opened a few inches and Martha stuck her head in, changed from the clothes they had met her in, now wearing a grey jacket, pink shirt and blue jeans and missing the white coat.

"Everything okay?" Martha said, slowly, not wanting to interrupt what might be a private moment.

Rhea smiled softly at her. "Yeah, everything's fine."

Martha smiled. She hated seeing them fight. She walked up the ramp and joined them on the console.

Donna walked into the TARDIS a few minutes later, her face slightly splotchy. Rhea guessed that she had been crying or that she was definitely close to it.

"You okay, Donna?" Rhea asked, frowning.

Donna nodded, giving her a small smile. "Yeah." She whispered.

"How were they?" Martha asked her, picking up on what Rhea had just noticed.

"Oh, same old stuff." Donna wiped a few tears off her cheek and attempted to appear casual. Rhea assumed that she did that a lot, pretend to be all right when everything's really not. _It takes one to know one_. She recognised the facial expression that Donna was wearing from her own mirror.

"They're fine." Donna looked as if she were trying to convince herself of that fact, not just the other three. "So! You gonna come with us? We're not exactly short of space." Donna offered Martha, both Rhea and the Doctor smiling in agreement.

"Oh, I have missed all this." Martha confessed. "But, you know. I'm good here. Back at home. And I'm better for having been away." She looked absolutely honest about what she was saying, not even the slightest trepidation in her voice. "Besides," She started, holding up her hand with the engagement ring on it. "Someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now!"

And Rhea let out a cry of pain, sinking down to the ground.

Martha, Donna and the Doctor rushed to her at once, the latter reaching her first.

"Rhea? Rhea? It's okay. Everything's going to be fine." The Doctor said, soothingly, stroking her hair and any part of her face that wasn't covered by her own hands, which were clutching her head in pain.

Her hands began to glow with a bright silvery light and she stared down at them in fear and in wonder. Crippling pain and weird light show aside, the whole situation was pretty cool from a third party's viewpoint. She smiled wryly at the Doctor. "See ya soon, alien boy." She murmured, giving into the pain and relaxing her limbs, resting her body against the console and just waiting to disappear. The console hummed behind her, as if the TARDIS was trying to reassure her that everything would be fine. _Thanks, gorgeous girl, I'll see YOU soon too_.

"You bet." The Doctor murmured, standing up and taking a step back, forcing Martha and Donna back as well. "You know what happens now." He told the other women. "She's going to a different part of my timeline."

"I wonder which face I'll see next." Rhea speculated.

The Doctor had a strange look on his face, the kind of guilty look like you know something that the other person doesn't.

"Oh, you know, don't you?" Rhea groaned. "That means I'm going to your past. Time travel, man, it sucks."

"I'll see you soon, Rhea." The Doctor simply replied.

She shut her eyes.

* * *

A/N: And there's the end of The Poison Sky. Rhea got really angry at the Doctor, didn't she? I was tossing up between her shouting at him or her punching him, but I might save her punching him for a later date. She really doesn't like it when other people make decisions for her. And she got to talk to her mother. I hope you realised, in some of the chapters, that has been at the back of her mind. It's been about a week since she's seen her mother. I got a bit confused in the show with that sonic phone thing myself. In The End of the World, how did Rose's phone call Jackie only what looks like a couple of hours after Rose left, because Jackie didn't seem upset? How did the phone know to call that specific time? Same with Martha in 42, how did the phone call Martha's mother at that specific time? I kind of went with that premise in the last scene with Rhea and her mother.

And the kiss! Was that a good kiss? I hope it was a good kiss! And hot! And Rhea kissed back! Is she in love with the Doctor? No, she's not. She's attracted to him and she cares about him, if her reaction to him going onto the Sontaran ship is any indication. That was a great scene to write, I spent ages just writing that scene over and over again. And what the Doctor did next. Was that unethical for him to use his telepathic abilities like that? I thought so, but he was just trying to protect her. I hope you guys understand why Rhea didn't show a lot of outward emotion after she woke up. She was kind of numb and she's not the type to get overly emotional, especially in front of others. That was what I was kind of going for with her turning around and praying. She didn't want the Doctor, or Martha or Donna to see her.

I wonder which Doctor Rhea will meet next, it's in 10's past, maybe another adventure with 10? Or maybe 9?

Anyway, Read and Review!


	13. The End of the World: Sunburn & Spiders

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, well then, I'd be a very rich young woman, wouldn't I?

A/N: I HIT 50 REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Here's a long chapter for you all to celebrate and I know I updated sooner than usual, I already had this chapter done and dusted and I was just really busy yesterday (I had to attend to 90 people in my house for like 5 hours), so I just wanted to get this over with. Anyway, this is Rhea's first meeting with the Ninth Doctor, I wonder how's she going to react? And her first time meeting Rose as well, how are Rose and Rhea going to react? Will Rhea accept the Ninth Doctor, even though he's vastly different to the two Doctors that Rhea has already met?

Notes on Reviews:

grapejuice101: I'm so very glad you liked it!

tooclosefortety: I'm glad you liked the kiss and I hope you like this chapter too!

Romanadvoratrelu: Well, I hope you like this chapter. And I will be doing Death of the Doctor in The Sarah Jane Adventures as well (as well as The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, just those two episodes 'cause they've got the Doctor in them), so we'll get to see whether Jo Grant recognises Rhea as well.

IKhandoZatman: I'm glad you liked the episode and it is Nine, don't worry, I couldn't put him off for too long, he's been shouting at me for so long.

beulah2013: No, sorry, not 'Rose', I have a plan for 'Rose', it won't be starting at the beginning of the episode, instead as soon as the War Doctor regenerates into the Ninth Doctor. I'm glad you have so much faith in me. I hope this chapter lives up.

Queenylime2: I thought so too, but that may just be writer's pride, so I'm glad someone else thinks that as well. Yeah, it was his last chance, of course, Rhea was totally confused by it, because it was the first time she's kissed him. Sorry, they won't really fight in this episode, the next one I do, they will. They'll definitely have some stubborn moments in _Father's Day._

curlyhairedfriendsr0x: I'm so glad you think this is amazing. And I am always open to feedback, constructive criticism is like crack for me, it makes me do better and I do hope you review more, I'm always looking at reviews!

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

Platform – the entire spaceship

platform – a platform in a room on the spaceship

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo, that's about all of it, really…

* * *

The End of the World: Sunburn & Spiders

"_I'll see you soon, Rhea." The Doctor simply replied._

_She shut her eyes._

When she managed to open them, she was stunned by how much darker the TARDIS was. _Maybe it's night, but why wouldn't the TARDIS light up when she realised I was in here?_ She looked around and saw a man in a leather jacket and a maroon jumper standing at the console. She looked around and realised that she was sitting in the exact same spot she had been when she collapsed, just a different TARDIS. She grabbed onto the console and hoisted herself up onto her feet, gritting her teeth at the ache in her legs. The man in the leather jacket seemed to notice the movement she made and his head shot up from where he was staring at the buttons on the console. He looked like the last photo she had seen the first time she had met her blue suit wearing Doctor, so this was the ninth Doctor. She groaned inwardly, realising that she was going to get very confused, very quickly.

He rushed over to her, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other holding her hand, and led her over to the captain's chair. _I really shouldn't be letting him do this?_ She sat down on it, wearily, the whole jumping through time and space thing really taking it out of her. She raised her head and took a proper look at him this time. He was tall, not as tall as the next Doctor, but tall nonetheless, he had to be six feet minimum. She estimated all three of the Doctors she had met were around six feet, with the tenth Doctor being just a bit taller than the other two. The one in front of her had closely cropped black hair that really drew attention to his larger-than-usual ears. To be honest, she thought they kind of suited him, and they were kind of hot. His facial structure was amazing. She felt a pang of jealousy. _Why is it that men always get the good facial features? _High, defined cheekbones and a rugged jaw bone and his eyes. Holy crap. His eyes were like ice blue, both gorgeous and terrifying at the same time. His nose was slightly large, a Roman nose, but again, like the ears, she felt it suited his face, and in a good way. He was wide bodied, not like the skinny frames his future selves had, his shoulders were broad and his arms were thick and muscled.

_Hello, handsome. _She shook her head free of those dangerous thoughts, furious at herself for practically salivating. _You can't get hooked that easily, Rhea, control yourself before you make a stupid mistake that could ruin everything._

"Doctor," She said, slowly, still a little unsure. "I, well, this is the first time I'm meeting you. This you, I mean." She decided to go with a blunt and take no prisoners attitude. She might as well get the whole thing out there and then they could decide what to do.

"This must be very early for you, then?" The Doctor asked, his strong English accent coming in. Rhea didn't know much about English accents but she thought it might be a Northern English accent. Either way, it was definitely sexy and it definitely suited this Doctor.

"This is the…" She counted their meetings on her fingers. "…fifth time I've jumped!" Rhea's face fell. "Wow, five agonising headaches, that's so not cool."

The Doctor gave a massive grin at that and she couldn't help grin back. "Oh, I've missed you!" He said, lifting her up in a massive and tight hug. She let out a shriek of surprise when he did this, mentally comparing the hugs she had received from the future Doctors with this one right now. This Doctor's hug was warm, and safe and comfortable and complete and she felt as if she could just melt into his embrace, but she didn't.

She pulled back, making sure that she put some distance between the two of them.

"So, what are we doing now?" Rhea asked, swallowing and leaning back against the console.

"Well, I just met Rose, and invited her to come along with me, but she said no." The Doctor said, not looking at her and just fiddling with the TARDIS.

"Who's Rose?" Rhea asked, leaning against the console and looking at him.

"Just a shop girl from London, she helped me…us…out a little while ago with an invasion problem." He looked very hesitant when he was telling her all of this.

"Spoilers, huh?" Rhea asked, looking understanding. She looked him over, appreciatively. "I got to say, I dig the leather jacket."

He looked at her, finally. "Yeah?"

"Definitely suits you." She said, waggling her eyebrows. "In a renegade cop, who doesn't play by anyone's rules, kind of way."

He smirked, confidence brimming in him after her compliment. "Good."

Rhea sighed. "It's good to know that you're ego doesn't change no matter which 'you' I run in to."

"Oi!"

Rhea shook her head. She stared at him for a second, remembering how her bow-tie Doctor had told her that this Doctor in front of her was the first Doctor after the Time War. She hesitated, wondering whether she should ask him and deciding to bite the bullet. "Are you…I mean…Is this right after the war for you?" Rhea asked, cautiously.

Pain passed through his eyes, as quickly as it came in it was gone, and his face hardened, but Rhea saw it. She slid a hand out and grasped his large one in her own. "I'm sorry. I really am" She said, sincerely. His hand tightened around hers and he tugged her closer, so that their hips were touching. They just stood there for a few minutes, not saying a word, and the Doctor revelled in her closeness.

"Why did Rose not want to come?" Rhea asked, suddenly. She couldn't imagine many people who wouldn't want to travel all of time and space. She had, and she was an emotionally stunted psychologist who had a madman knock on her door at three in the morning and even she had run off with him.

"She had to take care of her boyfriend and her mother." The Doctor said, grimacing.

Rhea smirked. "You don't get 'no' a lot of the time, do you?"

The Doctor shrugged. "No, not really." He said, sounding extremely smug about it.

_Idiot_. She thought fondly. "Did you tell her it travelled in time and space?" Rhea asked.

"Of course I-" He began to scoff, but then his eyes widened. "I forgot the 'time machine' part." He said, slowly, turning to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course." She pointed at one of the levers. "Come on, let's go back."

"As you wish, ma'am." The Doctor said, grinning and pushed down the lever, starting up the time rotor.

The TARDIS shook and the Doctor and Rhea would have been thrown around the room had they not grabbed onto the console at the last minute.

The Doctor ran around the console, pushing a few of the buttons and typing in the coordinates for a few minutes after he had left Rose and her idiot boyfriend in the alley.

The familiar wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS engines was heard as the ship landed on the opposite street corner that it had left, and the Doctor ran down the ramp to the door and threw one open, popping his head out.

"By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?" The Doctor asked, a knowing smile plastered on his face and went back inside, making sure to leave the door ajar and joining Rhea at the console, who was absentmindedly pressing a few of the buttons of the TARDIS.

"Thanks." Rhea heard a girl say. She assumed this must be Rose

"Thanks for what?" She heard a deeper voice and guessed that this was Rose's boyfriend, the one that the Doctor didn't think much of.

Suddenly, a girl with dyed blonde hair in a pink jacket and jeans ran inside the TARDIS with a broad grin on her face. She ran up to the console, sliding herself between the two and smiled at them both in turn.

"Hello, you must be Rose." Rhea said, thrusting a hand out.

Rose looked confused and looked at the Doctor, who looked a bit sheepish.

"Oh yeah, probably should have mentioned that. Rhea," He started, pointing at her. "She doesn't actually meet everyone in the right order."

Rose frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means, I meet him at different points in his timeline. So, I'll meet him now and then I'll disappear and meet him again four years from now. Kind of like The Time Traveller's Wife, but he's the wife." She decided to ignore the connotations of that particular analogy and got back to the situation at hand. "So, this is the first time I've met you. I assume you've met me before."

"Yeah, you went back into the TARDIS with the Doctor." Rose said, quietly, still trying to come to terms with what Rhea had just explained.

"You can't tell her what happened today, Rose." The Doctor said, suddenly and sharply. "She hasn't done it yet."

Rose nodded at the Doctor and realised that Rhea still had her hand out for Rose to shake. She shook it weakly. "Rose Tyler." She introduced.

"Dr. Sunehri Adwani, but if you call me anything other than Rhea, I might have to kill you." Rhea said, with a smile on her face.

"See, the thing is, with her, you don't always know when she's joking." The Doctor confessed to Rose.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, I'm violent, but I'm not _that_ violent."

The Doctor disagreed with Rhea by shaking his head at Rose, surreptitiously.

"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it going to be?" The Doctor said, tossing a red plastic ball in his hands.

Rose thought for a moment. "Forwards."

The Doctor flicked two switches and turned back to her. "How far?" He asked.

"One hundred years." Rose said, picking a random number.

The Doctor pulled a lever and pressed down on the same lever after a few turns. He reached over to turn a knob when Rhea beat him to it, turning it herself and smiling at him innocently when he mock-glared at her.

"Boys and their toys, huh?" Rhea whispered, conspiratorially, to Rose, who grinned at her. "He's so possessive of her that it's not funny."

"Her?" Rose looked quizzical.

"The TARDIS is a 'she'." Rhea said, gesturing all around her. She kissed her fingertips and touched them to one of the coral struts. "She's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." Rhea said, fondly, and grinned when she heard the TARDIS hum underneath her fingers.

The engines screeched and lurched, the Doctor staring at the rotor with a knowing smile on his face, and then stopped after a few seconds.

"There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century." He said, pointing to the doors.

"You're kidding." Rose said, smiling.

"That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?" The Doctor asked.

"Fine by me!" Rose said.

The Doctor started up the engines again, turning the same knob and pumping one of the levers. When the engines stopped, he looked at both Rhea and Rose.

"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire." He said, smugly, his hand shoved into the pocket of his leather jacket.

Rhea snorted. "You think you're so impressive, don't you?" Rhea asked, teasingly, sticking her tongue out of her teeth, smiling impishly.

The Doctor looked mock-offended. "I am so impressive."

Rhea smirked. "You wish, honey."

"Right, then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He revved up the engine, pumping a lever furiously seven times exactly. "Hold on!"

Rose hold onto the console and Rhea gripped onto the coral strut with everything she had as the TARDIS hurtled through the Time Vortex. Rhea leaned over and read the scanner, seeing that they were nearing the coordinates that the Doctor had set. She reached over and pulled one of the levers, while the Doctor twisted a knob and tapped a bell. The TARDIS came to a halt with a pinging noise.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

The Doctor didn't say anything, just simply gestured towards the doors. Rose's smile turned excited.

"What's out there?" Rose asked, slowly.

The Doctor gestured again and Rose ran to the doors and stepped outside.

"You're having so much fun with this, aren't you?" Rhea asked, knowingly.

The Doctor walked over to her and held his arm out. "Well?"

Rhea threw her head back and laughed, hooking her arm through his, lightly resting her head on his leather covered arm. "Come on, biker boy, show me what's so impressive." Rhea purred.

He led her out into simple but elegant tiled room. The Doctor turned away from her towards a panel near the doors, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. She joined the Doctor at the wall and analysed his sonic screwdriver. It was slightly smaller than his future self's, her suit-wearing Doctor, but it had the same bright blue light.

"It's smaller." She mused out loud and then tracked back when she realised what context that could be taken in. "That didn't come out right." She hastily tried to cover up.

He turned to his left and grinned at her. "I think that came out just right." He murmured, staring at her, an unreadable look passing his face before his face settled on an intense promise. _God, it's like this man's famous for those looks. He manages to give me one of them every time we meet, different face or not_.

She bit her lip hard when she saw that look. Her mind was drawn to the last time she had seen that look on a blue suited man who had rushed from a teleport pad and kissed her until she was both literally and figuratively weak at the knees.

She shook her mind of those thoughts and focused on what he was doing to the panel of the wall with his sonic screwdriver. She heard the sound of a door or a window opening and turned around to see the shutters of an enormous window opening. Rhea went down the stairs and joined Rose, who was in front of the window already, and both of them looked down in awe as the Earth was shown to them.

"You lot." The Doctor began, crossing his arms. "You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive." The Doctor paused and Rhea didn't have enough words in her mind to retort to his human-bashing. "This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... hold on..." He broke off and looked down at his watch and then back at the window and Rhea watched with amazement and just a bit of terror as there was a explosion and a golden glow covered the Earth. "This is the day the sun expands." He turned to Rose. "Welcome to the end of the World."

"_It's the last day on Earth in my dreams…" _Rhea sang. They both looked at her. "Too soon?"

* * *

"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite." A computerised voice came over the intercom of the space station.

Rhea, Rose and the Doctor were walking down a corridor.

"So, when it says 'guests', does that mean people?" Rose asked them.

Rhea shrugged. "Depends what you mean people?"

Rose frowned. "I mean people. What do you mean?"

"Aliens." The Doctor said.

"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose asked as they came to a door, which the Doctor opened with his sonic screwdriver.

"It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." The Doctor explained.

"What for?" Rose asked, confused.

"Fun." The Doctor said, bluntly.

Rhea's face grew dark.

They entered a large observation gallery, which Rhea assumed was the Manchester Gallery that the intercom voice had spoken about.

"Mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." The Doctor continued.

"Figures." Rhea snorted. Why is it that no one changed no matter how many years into the future? Even five billion years.

"But, hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra' - the sun expanding - that takes hundreds of years." Rose said.

"Millions." Rhea corrected.

"But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" The Doctor pointed out of the observation at the tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth. "Gravity satellite. That's holding back the sun."

Rose peered out of the window at the Earth. "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things." She remarked.

"They did." The Doctor agreed. "And the trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!"

Rhea let out a low growl. "Since when did the Earth become a display in a wilderness park?"

"How long has it got?" Rose asked the Doctor.

The Doctor looked at his watch. "About half an hour. And the planet gets roasted."

"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?" Rose asked, smiling a little.

Rhea shook her head before even hearing the Doctor's answer. She knew that wasn't what he was going to do.

The Doctor leaned towards Rose. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."

Rose's eyes widened. "But what about the people?"

"It's empty! They're all gone. All left." The Doctor said, shrugging.

Rose looked back to the window, realisation spreading across her face. "Just me then." She murmured.

"Hey!" Rhea interjected loudly. "What about me? I'm human too, you know." She was in the same situation as Rose.

Rose frowned. "Aren't you an alien, like him?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

"No way." Rhea shook her head. "I'm as human as they come, Blondie."

"Blondie?" Rose asked, insulted.

"Well, you are a blonde." Rhea said, slowly.

The Doctor stuck his head between the two females. "Don't be offended, Rose. She gives everyone she likes a nickname."

"It's my way of showing that I care." Rhea said, dramatically. "So, get used to it, _Blondie_."

"Who the hell are you?" A blue man shouted, running up to them.

"Oh! That's nice, thanks." The Doctor said as a greeting, completely unperturbed.

"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!" The man said, helplessly.

"That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and showed it to the steward. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor and Sunehri Adwani plus one. I'm the Doctor," He pointed at Rhea, "She's Sunehri Adwani," He pointed at Rose. "She's Rose Tyler, she's our plus one. Is that all right?" The Doctor asked, his hands joined behind his back, rocking on the heels of his feet.

"Well…obviously." The Steward said, stiffly. The Doctor and Rhea sported matching grins. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy."

The Doctor masked his expression of glee as a serious nod. After the steward walked off, the Doctor and Rhea looked at each other and burst out grinning. The Doctor showed Rhea the black wallet with the piece of paper inside of it, the one he had flashed at the steward. It was completely blank.

"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." The Doctor explained.

"He's blue." Rose managed to express.

"Yeah." Rhea said, nodding and smiling.

"Okay…" Rhea said, swallowing.

The steward was now speaking through a microphone at the other end of the suite. "We have in attendance, the Doctor, Sunehri Adwani and Rose Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He clapped his hands and a lot of little blue people in black clothing started scurrying around, presumably the staff.

"Oh my god, they look like blue oompa-loompas!" Rhea hissed to the Doctor, who had the urge to laugh madly after hearing her comment.

"Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."

A woman in red and yellow dress who had skin in the colour of bark and whose hair stuck out like a broken trunk walked over with her two companions, both dressed in black.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank-you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon."

The Doctor smiled as the Moxx of Balhoon rode in on some sort of platform while Rose just looked bewildered.

"And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

The Doctor just simply laughed at the expression on Rose's face. Rhea elbowed him in the stomach and looked at Rose, meaningfully. "You okay, Rose?" Rhea asked, knowing that this could be a bit overwhelming.

Rose gave her a tight smile. "Yeah."

"The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!"

"Cal 'Spark Plug'."

"Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo."

"The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."

More and more aliens entered and Rhea felt a bit overwhelmed as well by the end of it. Jabe and her companions approached the three of them. Her companions held trays of pots with little shoots in them.

"The Gift of Peace." Jabe said, taking a cutting and handing it to the Doctor. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."

"Thank you!" The Doctor said, handing the plant over to Rose. "Yes, gifts…erm…" He cleared his throat and started feeling his jacket for something. When he found nothing, he turned to Rhea, helplessly. Rhea reached into the pockets of her jacket and pulled out a packet of Jolly Ranchers, handing it over to him and rolling her eyes. He pulled out a few and gave them to Jabe. "I give you in return, delicacies from Earth."

Rhea resisted the urge to laugh. _Delicacies, really?_

Jabe peeled the candy from the wrapper and popped it into her mouth, tasting it thoughtfully. After a few minutes of tasting the candy, she smiled wide and thanked them gratefully. She gave the leftover candy to her companions and walked away.

"Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." The steward introduced.

A massive head in a glass case was wheeled through the doors. The Moxx of Balhoon approached the Doctor, Rhea and Rose.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor said, grinning.

"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva."

He spat accurately into Rose's left eye. She looked equal parts disgusted and shocked and rubbed the spit out of her eye. Rhea pursed her lips in order to stop herself from laughing out loud, but it looked like the Doctor had no qualms about that.

"Thank you very much." The Doctor said, chuckling.

The Adherents of the Repeated Meme approached them.

"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you delicacies from Earth." The Doctor said, giving them a couple of Jolly Ranchers.

"You're buying me more, got that, biker boy?" Rhea muttered to the Doctor.

"A gift of peace in all good faith." The one at the front intoned. Rhea frowned. She felt as if there was something wrong with these so-called Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

The Meme held out a large silver egg, which the Doctor took, threw up into the air, caught, and handed to Rose.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human."

Both Rhea and Rose paled as the sliding doors opened to show what looked like a vertical trampoline made of human skin, with eyes and a lipstick smeared mouth, wheel through. The veins in the skin could still be seen, which bulged at odd intervals, swelling with blood. At least, Rhea thought it was blood.

"The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen." The steward finished.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am."

The Doctor laughed silently but heartily, looking at Rhea and Rose for their reaction. Rose was just staring at Cassandra with obvious shock.

"Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Cassandra preened and one of the two men in white body suits, who had wheeled her in, held up a canister, which he sprayed onto Cassandra.

"Truly, I am The Last Human."

Rose and Rhea crept closer in order to get a better look.

"My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Cassandra continued as Rhea walked around her to the other side, to get a better view of her from all angles. She was completely flat. Practically two-dimensional. She moved back to the Doctor's side as Rose remained closer to Cassandra, still observing her with alarm.

"I have come to honour them and..." Cassandra sniffled, as if she were about to start crying. "_..._say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of the white suits wiped her eyes. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg." One of the staff came in and displayed the egg to the room on a pedestal. "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils." Rhea opened her mouth to deny everything the trampoline had just said but the Doctor pinched her arm, making her glare at him. He shook his head, signalling for her not to make a scene. She rolled her eyes. "Or was that my third husband?" Rhea rolled her eyes again when the Doctor laughed.

"That wasn't even funny!" Rhea said, incredulously, to him.

"Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" Cassandra laughed obnoxiously and mumbled to herself for a few seconds. Behind her, a large jukebox was wheeled into the room.

"And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod." Rhea hung her head with a groan. "It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers."

Rose just looked amazed at the extent of the inaccuracies, not saying a word.

"Play on!" Cassandra ordered.

One of the staff pressed a button and a record fell into place. The jukebox started playing Soft Cell's Tainted Love.

"Oh, please, since when is 'Tainted Love' a classic?" Rhea scoffed and then halted the Doctor from bopping appreciatively to the music. "Please don't dance." Rhea said, weakly.

The Doctor gave her a mock-growl and pulled her closed to him.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." The steward informed all of them.

Rose had a lost, overwhelmed expression plastered across her face and Rhea could tell this from all the way across the suite. Everywhere Rose looked, there were aliens, and nt just like the Doctor, real, proper aliens, and no other humans other than Rhea, and Rose still wasn't sure what the woman was. She ran out of the gallery. Concerned, the Doctor and Rhea started to follow her, but they were stopped by Jabe.

"Doctor? Miss Sunehri?" Jabe started, drawing their attention. She snapped a photo of them when they paused. "Thank you."

The Doctor and Rhea proceeded on.

* * *

Rose, in another part of the ship, looked out of the window at the raging, burning sun. She jumped when another one of the staff came into the room, a woman.

"Sorry, am I allowed to be in here?" Rose asked, sheepishly.

The employee looked around uneasily, as if to check if anyone else was there. "You have to give us permission to talk." She looked at Rose expectantly. Rose looked unsure of what exactly to say.

"Uh... you... have permission...?" Rose tried.

"Thank you!" The employee said, smiling. "And, no. You're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."

"'Kay." Rose said, smiling in return.

The employee went to a panel in the wall and entered a code, while Rose watched her.

"What's your name?" Rose asked her.

"Raffalo." She answered.

"Raffalo?" Rose said.

"Yes, Miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance." Raffalo knelt before an air vent. "There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Bo suite. There must be something blocking the system - he's not getting any hot water."

"So, you're a plumber?" Rose asked, hesitantly, unsure of whether she was going to offend the woman.

Raffalo smiled at her and nodded. "That's right, miss."

"They still have plumbers?" Rose asked, frowning. Five billion years into her future and they still needed plumbers.

"I hope so! Else I'm out of a job!" Raffalo joked and Rose laughed.

"Where are you from?" Rose asked, leaning against the wall.

"Crespallion."

"That's a planet, is it?" Rose asked.

"No," Raffalo shook her head. "Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. And where are you from, Miss?" Raffalo then paused, as if she had remembered herself. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No! Not at all. Erm... I dunno, a long way away... I just sort of, hitched a lift with this couple." Reason seemed to dawn on Rose's face, seeming to realise the risk she had taken by travelling with the Doctor and Rhea. "I didn't even think about it... I don't even know who they are... they're complete strangers..." Rose trailed off.

Rafallo looked slightly worried at the turn Rose was taking. However, Rose snapped herself out of it.

"Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it!" Rose said, and began to walk away.

"Thank you, Miss. And…" Rose turned around to face Raffalo again. "Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."

Rose smiled. "'Kay. See you later."

Rafallo nodded and smiled.

* * *

Rose sat on the steps, throwing the metal egg that the Adherrents of the Repeated Meme had given as a gift up in the air and catching it

* * *

The TARDIS was being dragged away by some of the staff in a corridor on the Platform.

"Oi, now, careful with that. Park it properly. No scratches." The Doctor warned the staff.

One of them walked up to the Doctor, squeaked at him, handing him a card and walking away from him. The Doctor and Rhea looked down at the card, reading the words. It read 'Have A Nice Day' in some sort of alien font.

"Oh, that's actually sort of pretty." Rhea mused, eyeing the words on the card.

But the Doctor simply stared at the retreating staff's back as if he or she was completely insane, before walking off down the opposite end of the corridor.

* * *

Rose was sitting on the steps in the viewing gallery, throwing the egg that the Adherents of the Repeated Meme had given as a gift, and catching it again, when she heard an announcement over the intercom.

"Earth Death in 25 minutes. Earth Death in 25 minutes."

"Oh, thanks." Rose said, sarcastically.

She put the egg down and turned her attention to the cutting of Jabe's grandfather. She picked up the pot. "Hello! My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related..." She suddenly realised what she was doing and hurriedly put the plant down. "I'm talking to a twig." She said, in absolute disgust. Behind her, a spider broke out of the metal ball she had just put down.

The spider started to scan her hand, but Rose was completely oblivious. It jumped and ran to the air vent when the Doctor's voice floated through the door.

"Rose? Are you in there?" The Doctor asked.

The spider scrambled through the vent just in time, before the Doctor and Rhea came through the door.

"Aye aye!" The Doctor said as he joined Rose on the opposite side of the stairs. Rhea sat on the platform Indian style and scooted over to the edge, dropping her legs down and swinging them. "What do you think, then?"

"Great!" Rose said, slipping fake enthusiasm into her voice, which Rhea noticed with a frown. "Yeah... fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper..."

The Doctor laughed and Rhea remembered the first time she had seen the Doctor use the psychic paper on the Titanic, and how that had been the straw that broke the camel's back for her, especially after seeing Bannakaffalatta.

"They're just, so alien." Rose remarked. The Doctor looked at her, questioningly. "The aliens. Are so alien. You look at 'em... and they're alien." She said, lamely, unable to express exactly what she was feeling.

"Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South." The Doctor joked.

Rose looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time in her life. "Where are you from?"

Rhea winced at the question and turned her attention to the Doctor, whose face was impossibly blank. She took the hand that was closest to her and brought it back to her thighs, holding it tightly in her own. She rested her head lightly on his bicep. "All over the place." The Doctor replied, turning away from Rose and looking out of the viewing window at the Earth.

"They all speak English." Rose said, the thought just coming to her.

The Doctor turned back to Rose, smiling and leaning back, resting his elbow on the floor. "No, you just _hear_ English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain, translates."

"It's inside my brain?" Rose clarified, shock and anger at the whole situation rising up in her.

"Well, in a good way."

Rose's voice turned cold and angrier. "Your machine gets inside my head. It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?" Rose demanded.

The Doctor looked thrown at the question. "I didn't think about it like that."

"No! You were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South!" Rose said, angrily. "Who are you then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

The Doctor sat up and looked away from her.

"I'm just the Doctor." The Doctor asserted.

"From what planet?" Rose asked, angrily.

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!" The Doctor scoffed.

"Where are you from?!" Rose shouted.

"What does it matter?" The Doctor asked, getting angry now.

"Tell me who you are!" Rose yelled.

"This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!" The Doctor barked, memories of what he was and what he had lost ripping through his mind.

"Yeah, and I'm here too because you brought me here, so just tell me!" Rose screamed.

"Okay, time out, you two." Rhea cut in, hoping to stop a bloodbath. She turned to Rose, just a bit incensed herself, an intense protectiveness over the Doctor rising in her. "Okay, first of all, no one held a gun to your head and forced you to come with us, you came of your own free will. If that's a bad decision in your eyes, that's your own problem, don't blame us." Rhea continued, despite the angry and offended look Rose was giving her. She rolled her eyes. "And second, seriously, you've known him for what, a day? What makes you think you have the right to know everything about him? Imagine it the other way, if we asked you every thought, every memory, every fact about your life, would you want to answer us? Do you trust us enough to tell us every deep, dark secret in your life?" Rose looked away from Rhea's hard gaze, unable to distance herself from the logic.

Rhea softened her tone. She knew she could come off as a bit of a bitch sometimes. She just hated hypocrisy and she felt incredibly protective over this leather clad man, who seemed so broken right now. "Look, I'm not trying to be mean. Everyone has their secrets and it's wrong for you to expect him to tell you all of his. It's not like he knows you and it's not fair. You shouldn't blame us for bringing you here. He only asked you to come, you made the conscientious decision to come with us." Rhea followed the Doctor, who had left the platform and walked down the steps to the window. She reached him and linked her arms through his, smiling when he looked at her thankfully. She entwined their fingers together and smiled reluctantly when he pressed a warm kiss to her forehead.

"Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes."

After a few minutes, Rose got up and followed the Doctor and Rhea down the steps.

"Alright... as my mate Shareen says... don't argue with the designated drivers..." Rose said, as a form of an apology.

Rhea still looked a bit annoyed at the girl, not thinking that was a proper apology in her opinion, but softened when she saw the Doctor smile at the girl's words, deciding to let it go this once. Rose pulled her mobile out of the pocket of her jacket and looked at it, her eyes narrowed.

"Can't exactly call for a taxi... there's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit!"

The Doctor pursed his lips and turned to face Rose. "Tell you what..." He took the phone from her. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery..." He took the back of the phone off.

"Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?" Rose teased him.

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?" The Doctor said, playing along. Rhea just stared at them both, sceptically.

"Nah, failed hullabaloo."

"You both have no game, whatsoever." Rhea told them.

"Ooh." The Doctor made a sound, fitting in a new battery into Rose's phone and handing it back to her. "There you go."

Rose took it and looked at him uncertainly. Rhea realised what he had done to her phone and looked at her reassuringly. She nodded at Rose to dial and Rose dialled her mother's number, who answered after a few rings. "Mum?"

Rhea leaned up to whisper in the Doctor's ear. "I bet you're so proud of yourself."

The Doctor just looked down at her with a smug smile that said everything.

The Doctor turned to Rhea, neither of them wanting to eavesdrop on Rose's phone call.

"I have plenty of _game_." The Doctor growled.

Rhea snorted. "Oh, yeah. You're going to have to prove it, biker boy." Rhea said, all flirty-like.

"Not in front of witnesses." The Doctor said, smirking.

Rhea smiled at him, waggling her eyebrows. "Baby, when you dish out what you put out, then we can talk about your game."

"No! I'm fine! Top of the world!" They heard Rose tell her mother and the two laughed.

Rhea looked at Rose, understanding the conflicting emotions that must have coursing through the girl. She remembered talking to her mother on her phone after the Sontaran drama, how happy and devastated she had felt. Her hand went to the phone in her blazer, unbeknownst to her. The Doctor seemed to know what she was thinking and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Rhea was ashamed and furious to say that she drunk in his warmth.

Rose lowered the mobile, stunned.

The Doctor misinterpreted her look. "Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." He teased.

"That was five billion years ago." Rose murmured. "So... she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead."

Rhea flinched when she realised that was true for her own mother as well. The Doctor, as if he had read her mind, maybe he had, she still wasn't quite sure about the telepathy thing yet, she was still a bit angry about that, gripped her hand tightly, offering her some more comfort.

"Bundle of laughs, you are." The Doctor said, dryly.

Suddenly, the entire Platform shuddered.

"That's not supposed to happen..." The Doctor looked rather pleased and curious.

Rhea groaned. _And, here we go again._

* * *

A/N: Well, here was Rhea's first meeting with the Ninth Doctor. Wasn't it fun? I liked the little bit at the beginning. Rhea's definitely attracted to this Doctor, not that she isn't to the others, but the first thing she notices about this one, is how sexy he is for her. But she won't act on her attraction, like she said, she's an "emotionally stunted psychologist". There was a little bit of flirting in this chapter, with the "impressive" bit and The Doctor's "game" and the Time Traveller's Wife reference. I also downplayed the relationship between Jabe and the Doctor in this chapter and in the next, I wonder how Rhea and the Doctor will react when she asks the Doctor whether Rhea is his wife?

I did want to bring something up with you guys. The fact that Rhea does sometime smile and stick her tongue out of her teeth. I know that in the Doctor Who fandom, a lot of people apply that particular smile to Rose and I know Rose has become kind of famous for it and I didn't want you guys to think that I just stole it from Rose. I have seen a lot of people smile like that, when their joking or teasing, even the actress that I base Rhea on, which is Deepika Padukone, by the way, if you didn't recognise her from the cover (what do you think about the cover, anyway?). I smile like that sometimes as well, and I used to do it even before I started watching Doctor Who.

Oh, and to explain a reference, the song that Rhea sings in this chapter is _The Last Day on Earth by Kate Miller-Heidke_.

And Rose. I hope you liked the way Rhea treated Rose in this chapter and how she tells Rose off for being so pushy. I never really liked that bit in the episode, I always felt like Rose was asking things she didn't really have the right to know, I mean she only knew the Doctor for like a day, and she already wanted his life story. I thought this would be a perfect time for Rhea to get protective over the Doctor. I think she feels protective over this one in particular because he's the first regeneration after the Time War, but Protective!Rhea will definitely come back with the other Doctors, like in _The Christmas Invasion, _definitely _Midnight_ (I can't wait to see what Rhea does to the humans in Midnight), _Forest of the Dead _and _Let's Kill Hitler_.

Anyways, Read and Review!


	14. The End of the World: Disco Inferno

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, then Jack Harkness would take me out for a drink every Friday night.

A/N: Well, here's another extra long chapter and the ending to The End of the World! Hope you like it!

Notes on Reviews:

IKhandoZatman: Yeah, I can't wait either. I'm kind of dreading Midnight (I got kind of scared when I was watching it) and I plan to do Let's Kill Hitler as the last part in like a four part chapter (The Rebel Flesh, The Almost People, A Good Man Goes To War, Let's Kill Hitler)

tooclosefortety: I'm glad you liked the chapter! I'm not a massive fan of Rose, she's not my be all and end all companion, but I like her, I can accept the fact that she has flaws and those flaws are a very human thing to have. _Father's Day_ will be interesting, it will have equal Rhea being angry at Rose and equal Rhea being angry at the Doctor (because I feel like the Doctor should have known better than to take Rose back a second time, it wasn't as if she knew anything about time travel, I think that episode just shows how naive Rose is and how she wears her heart on her sleeve). But don't worry, Rhea will be angry at Rose in that episode as well. I agree with you about _Midnight_, I have a complex relationship with that episode as well. Rhea will definitely defend the Doctor in that episode, in fact, she'll get a bit violent as well, and she'll have her gun on her, so it'll definitely be interesting. Rose will not be in love with the Doctor, but she will be jealous of the attention that the Doctor gives Rhea. I'll be writing a jealous Rose in my Time Lady OC story (for which I'll post a snippet after I get 100 reviews for this story). I'm really glad you like the story so far. And just a question, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, what country are you from?

lil'hawkeye3: Thank you so much! I'm blushing as we speak (or write?). I'm so happy that you think my story's a masterpiece in progress and that I'm a genius. I have read a lot of those stories. There are lot of ones where Rose stays on for Season 3. There is one, _A Walk in the Dust_ by JunoInferno, which is a 10/Donna one that has Donna joining the Doctor and Rose at the end of The Runaway Bride, and has quite a bit of Rose bashing (which is not really my style, but it was fun to read). LizzeXX's Time Lady OC stories are amazing ones, I've read each of them like a gazillion times and have them saved on my phone as well. There are quite a few ones where a girl from our universe becomes the Doctor's companion instead of Rose (one of my future story ideas), which puts an interesting take on it, because the OC knows what's going to happen. I'm really glad you like Rhea. I just didn't want to make a young white OC like a lot of people, like Rose, Donna, River, Amy (I'm not trying to be racist, I just wanted a different kind of OC), I thought it would be interesting if I did another (or two) nationalities and how their view of the world would affect their travels with the Doctor. Especially considering religion, they never really bring up how religion plays a part in the whole universe travelling. And Rhea's heaps religious, that's why I can't wait to write _The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit_ and _The Unquiet Dead_, so it'll give us a different view of those episodes in how Rhea deals with those events. She can recognise his faces because the Tenth Doctor showed her a picture of all of his previous faces and she met the Eleventh Doctor first. She's kind of accepted that regeneration is a part of the Doctor, and she shouldn't let that prejudice her against him. She likes him for him, and he hasn't really changed much other than the face. The core is still the Doctor. I'm not the first person to write something like this. There's AnaDona's Jumping Through Time, which was my inspiration, and DanniFielding's The Time Child, and Artemis Sherwood's Once Upon Another Time, but they all have the OC in question as a girl from our universe, who knows how the story's going to end. I thought it would be interesting to have the whole out of order timeline with the Doctor happen to someone from the Doctor Who universe and someone who doesn't know what's going to happen and she just has to take it as it comes.

Queenylime2: I feel very conflicted regarding Rose, in some episodes I can't stand her and in some episodes, I really do like her. I don't like how she reacted regarding Mickey and Jackie and Sarah Jane and I didn't like her in _The Stolen Earth/Journey's End _either. I have around the next four chapters written for this story, so it's not that hard to update every alternate day. I have stories on my alert list that haven't been updated in ages, but I can't bring myself to delete them, just in case. I will try not to abandon this story. It is my baby, the one story I feel the most proud of so far, but I start university in like a month, so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to update as frequently. I will try though.

curlyhairedfriendsr0x: I'm glad you like the way I characterised Rhea and the Doctor's relationship. At this point in time, Rhea isn't particular either way, she's only met Rose once, so she doesn't have specific feelings about her yet. Some times she'll like Rose, some times she'll want to rip her teeth out, but she'll be like that with everyone. I still believe that Rhea and Rose will be friends but jealousy will happen. I do think the Ninth Doctor is sexy, but I think he'd appeal to Rhea just a little more than the other two doctors. Rhea's 27 and she's mature, not to mention a bit broken because of her past, I think she finds a kindred spirit in the Ninth Doctor and that adds to his attractiveness for her.

beulah2013: Don't worry, Silence in the Library is coming up in the near future. But I plan to do Time of the Angels first, so that Rhea meets River first.

Virginia I: Thank you so much for your feedback. I am trying to put Rhea more into it, just a few scenes here and there where there is Doctor/Rhea interaction. I think the problem with OC stories is that you don't know where to find the balance. You want to do justice to the story but you want to make sure the OC plays a part in the chapters. Mostly, it will go according to the episodes but I will put a few scenes here and there with just Rhea, or Rhea and the Doctor, or Rhea and a companion. I haven't really watched a lot of Classic Who to accurately write it, so for now, I will really only be sticking to 9-11. Maybe once I've finished 9-11, I'll start on Classic Who, but not really in the near future.

LilGreenearth97: I am so glad you liked the chapter! Hopefully, I won't end up disappointing you. I am really glad you liked Rhea's reaction to the Doctor and Rose and I'm very happy that you liked the cover as well.

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo…

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/Face of Boe speaking/The Doctor's thoughts

Platform – Platform One (the spaceship that the trio is on)

platform – a specific platform in a suite on the Platform

* * *

The End of the World: Disco Inferno

_Suddenly, the entire Platform shuddered._

"_That's not supposed to happen..." The Doctor looked rather pleased and curious._

_Rhea groaned. And, here we go again._

The guests in the Manchester Suite were completely oblivious to the commotion, chatting to each other instead. The Moxx of Balhoon was talking to the Face of Boe.

" ...this is the Bad Wolf scenario..." The Doctor and Rhea heard the Moxx of Balhoon saying as they entered the suite.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." The Doctor explained to the two females as he fiddled with a control panel next to the door. Jabe approached them.

"What do you think, Rhea, Jabe? Listened to the engines, they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?" The Doctor asked.

"It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make any sense to me." Jabe replied.

"Sabotage." Rhea murmured to the Doctor, who looked at her, agreeing silently.

"Where's the engine room?" The Doctor asked Jabe, turning to her.

"I don't know... but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And..." She gestured to Rhea. "…your wife."

Both Rhea and the Doctor stiffened, but for different reasons.

"She's not my wife." The Doctor said, shortly.

"Partner?"

"No…" The Doctor turned to look at Rhea, keeping his eyes on her face, looking for some sort of reaction from her, but her face was blank like always.

"Concubine?"

Rhea clenched her fists.

"Prostitute?"

Rhea swore under her breath. "No!" She cut in, quietly but meaningfully, utterly insulted by the assumptions that the tree lady had made. "Do you mind not calling me a whore, Poison Ivy?" Rhea hissed, anger flashing in her eyes.

Jabe frowned. "I'm sorry if I've insulted you…"

The Doctor ran his hand down her arm, provoking goosebumps, and gripped Rhea's hand, rubbing the fingers with his own. Rhea gave him a small smile. "I'm going to go talk to the Face of Boe." Rhea said, her mouth drawn into a tight smile, and walked off towards said alien.

"Tell you what, you two go and pollinate, I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson." Rose said, making her way over to Cassandra.

"Don't start a fight." The Doctor warned Rose and offered his arm to Jabe. "Maintenance duct, then?" He asked, with a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes, hoping that he could get this mess sorted quickly so he could spend some time with Rhea.

Jabe looked back at Rhea, who had stopped and turned back to them. Rhea narrowed her eyes at the woman, flipping her hair behind her, a sudden possessiveness over the Doctor forcing her to clench her fists. She frowned, not understanding why she was so upset he was leaving with the Tree Lady and why he had given that look when Jabe had asked him if Rhea was his wife.

"Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes."

* * *

Before the Doctor and Jabe entered a maintenance corridor, several spiders scurry out of view.

"Who's in charge of Platform One?" The Doctor asked Jabe. "Is there a captain or what?"

"There's just the steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal man."

The Doctor frowned, remembering what Rhea had said before. "You mean the computer? But who controls that?"

"The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another."

The Doctor fell silent, thinking it over. "But there's no one from the corporation on board." The Doctor said, slowly.

"They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."

"Unsinkable?" The Doctor snorted.

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate." Jabe agreed, with a smile on her face.

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable... I ended up clinging to an iceberg, it wasn't half cold." He stopped for a moment. "So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"

Jabe looked as though she had only realised this now. "I'm afraid not."

The Doctor grinned. "Fantastic." He said and started walking again.

Jabe frowned. "I don't understand. In what way is THAT fantastic?"

* * *

Rhea walked over to the Face of Boe, who was simply on his own, looking around at the other aliens. When he saw that she was approaching him, Rhea could see the beginnings of a soft smile on his face.

"Hi." She said, shyly, unsure of what to proceed.

_Why so shy, beautiful?_

A deep voice purred in her mind and Rhea's eyes widened, disconcerted momentarily when she heard the voice. She didn't think she'd ever be able to deal with a telepath without suspicion, especially after the Sontaran fiasco with the Doctor. "Whoa!" She made a sound of amazement. "Was that you?" Rhea whispered to the Face of Boe.

_Yes, that was me. Unless, I am wrong, judging by your scepticism, this must be very early in your timeline then. This is the first time you have met me. _

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean that you've met me before?" She asked, carefully.

_Spoilers._

Rhea groaned, throwing her hands up in the air, as she heard the most overused and hated word in her dictionary. It was everyone's, especially the Doctor's, way of keeping her mouth shut. "I hate that word, you know."

_You shouldn't. You taught it to me._

Rhea adopted a flirty and mischievous smile on her face, masking her shock and worry. "Oh, honey, you should know, I am a very bad influence." She hummed.

_The Doctor needs you, Rhea, and you need him. _

_And here we go again. _She was sick of people attributing things to her relationship with the Doctor. "Why? I don't need anyone. Do I look like a girl who needs someone to protect her?" She said, shortly, stamping down the small part of her heart that cried out the affirmative.

_You do. You need him. It's written in the stars. The Doctor and his Golden Girl. The Oncoming Storm and his Time Goddess._

Rhea snorted. "What kind of crappy title is that? Golden Girl?" She thought it sounded like some extremely lame superheroine. "Although, I kind of like Time Goddess." She smiled slowly and softly, then frowned. "The Oncoming Storm? Is that what people call the Doctor?"

_Certain people._

"Man, you must be the king of no-straight-answers." Rhea said, exasperatedly. _No, wait, that's the Doctor._

_The Time Goddess is your title. It will be known throughout the stars in a matter of time. You have a long road ahead of you, Sunehri Adwani, there is much for you to see and much for you to do. Have faith, Beautiful Rhea, it will all work out the way it is supposed to._

Rhea swallowed hard at the extent of the conviction that laced the Face of Boe's voice in her mind. She didn't know why, just like the Doctor, she felt as though she could trust him. An incredibly dangerous risk, but she felt as though she had to take it. "Beautiful Rhea?" She asked, confused but a little touched. No one had ever given her a term of endearment like that, except for her parents. Now there was the Doctor with his 'golden girl' and now the Face of Boe with 'Beautiful Rhea'.

_One day I will give you that name. You can trust me, Sunehri. I know how your heart has hardened over the ears. There will be a line of people who will melt the ice around your heart, if you don't mind my cliché. It's not a bad thing, Sunehri. _

Rhea turned around to see Rose walking with Cassandra towards the viewing window. She groaned, inwardly, worried about what was going to happen. She turned back to the Face of Boe. "I'm sorry, I have to make sure that Rose doesn't murder Joan Rivers." She smiled, hearing the Face of Boe's laughter in her mind and quickly joined Rose and Cassandra.

"Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy." Rhea choked a little when she heard this. _Oh my god, she really is Amanda Lepore_. "Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice." Cassandra sighed. "I had such fun."

Rhea frowned. "What happened to everyone else? I mean, the human race, where did they go?"

"They say Mankind has touched every star in the sky." Cassandra said, vaguely.

Rose stepped closer to Cassandra. "So, you're _not_ the last human?"

Cassandra looked angry and prideful, which, in Rhea's opinion, was a dangerous combination. "I am the last PURE human. The others... mingled." She sounded disgusted with the thought. "Oh, they call themselves 'New Humans' and 'Proto-humans' and 'Digi-humans' even 'Human-ish' but you know what I call them?" Cassandra lowered her voice down to a whisper. "Mongrels." She hissed.

"Right. And you stayed behind?" Rose asked, sceptically.

"I kept myself pure." Cassandra asserted.

"They evolved so that they could survive, that's what humanity does, and that's what humanity is supposed to do. You just stayed back on your own and developed an over-inflated sense of your own importance and humanity." Rhea growled and then paused. "How many operations have you had, exactly, Cassandra?" Rhea asked, crossing her arms. A part of her felt sorry for the flap of skin she was currently talking to. To be left on your own for so long, while everyone else left and lived their life the way they were supposed to, she would have gone mad with loneliness. No wonder she attempted to preserve her own idea of what it meant to be 'human'.

"708. Next week, it's 709, I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out."

Rose looked taken aback and angry. "I'd rather die."

Cassandra misinterpreted the reason for Rose's refusal. "Honestly, it doesn't hurt-"

"No, I mean it. I'd rather die. It's better to die than live like you…a bitchy trampoline." Rhea smiled at Rose's words, knowing that she couldn't have put it better herself.

"Not to mention incredibly bad taste in makeup and eyeliner. You look like a futuristic version of Amanda Lepore mixed with an album cover for Michael Jackson. When you die, you should donate your body to Tupperware…if it still exists." Rhea said, looking over the two-dimensional 'human' with distaste.

Cassandra looked like a woman who was desperately trying to convince herself of her own importance and making sure it was covered up on her face. "Oh, well, what do you two know?"

Rhea bristled in anger. "I was born on that planet." She snarled. "My mother was born there and my father was born there. I grew up there, I lived there and I worked there. And that goes for Rose as well. Do you know what that means, Cassandra? That means that Rose and I are officially the last humans on this platform, because you are not human. I have no idea what you are, but I know that you've had everything nipped and tucked and flattened until everything was nicely photoshoped and auto-tuned. Anything that was human was thrown in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra, a flat bitchy piece of skin with horrible taste in lipstick. Nice talking to ya."

Rhea watched as Rose walked off out of the suite, presumably going somewhere to cool off after their encounter with Cassandra. Rhea swallowed and ran her hands through her hair in agitation. She rested her body against a wall and just leaned back, closing her eyes, wondering why she had let herself lose control like that. She wasn't prone to outbursts of anger like that. She guessed that it was the stress of the time-travelling, coupled with the aftermath of the headaches and the fact that, in this time, her parents, her family, everything that she had known and loved was dead. She increased the rate of her breathing, making sure to keep conscious control over her breath at all times and keeping a constant rhythm. Her eyes snapped open and she saw the Adherents of the Repeated Meme walk out off the sliding doors that Rose had just left through.

* * *

The Doctor and Jabe were still making their way down the maintenance corridors, dodging large thick metal wires, the low ceiling forcing them to stoop slightly on their procession.

"So, tell me, Jabe. What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?" The Doctor asked, just making conversation.

"Respect for the Earth." Jabe said, simply.

The Doctor snorted, not completely buying it. "Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions."

"Well... perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions." Jabe confessed.

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."

"All the same. You respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below. And I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest." She said, proudly.

The Doctor looked impressed and then pointed to a control panel.

"Excuse me." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started poking at the screen with it.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two... perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left..." Jabe didn't receive an answer. "I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species - refused to admit your existence." The Doctor pretended to be concentrating on the hacking the control panel but a flicker of pain passed across his face. "And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right." The Doctor stopped scanning, the memories overwhelming him. The deep sadness that he was feeling at the moment was reflected in his blue eyes.

"I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am." Jabe murmured, her tone, awed, hushed and reverent. She put a comforting hand on his arm. The Doctor looked at her, his eyes full of tears and pain.

"But, you do have someone, don't you?" Jabe offered the Doctor a smile. "Your friend, the brunette one, not the blonde one, she helps you, doesn't she?"

The Doctor returned the gesture she had given him, placing his hand on her arm, smiling sadly, realising that he wasn't as alone as he thought he was. He would have Rhea, his wonderful, beautiful, _fantastic _Rhea, for a long time, if her jaunts were any indication. She was his constant, even if she didn't know or believe it sometimes. He quickly finished the scan and he and Jabe went through the door he had just opened.

They found themselves in the ventilation chamber of the Platform, huge fans circulating the air in the massive room. The Doctor looked down at Jabe.

"Is it me, or is it just a bit nippy?"

* * *

Rose walked down a corridor on her own after that disastrous meeting with Cassandra. She smiled when she thought of the way Rhea had handled the situation and her furious attack against Cassandra. She looked up and saw the Adherents of the Repeated Meme coming from the other end of the corridor. She smiled, a little unsurely, at them, but screamed in shock when the first one struck her down to the ground, where she lied unconscious as they dragged her away.

* * *

"Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of, nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it 'retro'." He scanned another control panel with his sonic screwdriver. "Gotcha." He exclaimed proudly.

The panel fell off and they recoiled as a spider scuttled out and scurried across the floor and up the wall. The Doctor and Jabe watched it with confusion and suspicion.

"What the hell's that?" The Doctor asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Is it part of the 'retro'?" Jabe asked the Doctor.

"I don't think so. Hold on." The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the spider, which halted on the wall. Jabe fired one of her roots at the spider, disabling it and knocking it down, falling into the Doctor's hands.

"Hey! Nice liana!" The Doctor praised, smiling.

"Thank you!" She said, shyly. "We're not supposed to show them in public."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." The Doctor said, conspiratorially. He turned his attention back to the spider in his hands. "Now then. Who's been bringing the pets on board?" He said, analysing the spider.

"What does it do?" Jabe asked.

"Sabotage." The Doctor echoed Rhea's words from before, pride for his golden girl brimming inside of him. He thanked the universe for making sure Rhea was with him through everything. _I have no idea what I'd do without her._

"Earth Death in 10 minutes."

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." The Doctor said, hurrying from the ventilation chamber.

* * *

The aliens milled about in the Manchester Suite. Rhea was at the door of the suite, about to rush after Rose, when she heard Cassandra speak.

"The planet's end. Come gather! Come gather! Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad." Cassandra preened in a fawning tone.

Britney Spear's _Toxic_ suddenly blasted out of the jukebox that Cassandra had brought with her as a gift. Rhea had the urge to scream in rage. _Traditional ballad, my ass._

Rhea ran out of the suite and down the corridor until she came to a section of the thin strip of area, which was filled with smoke. She saw the staff, decked out in their black uniforms, coughing squeaky little coughs, which, under any other circumstances, Rhea might have considered cute.

She saw the Doctor and Jabe coming around the other end of the corridor to the same commotion and she ran over, skidding to a stop right in front of him. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard, smiling happily when she felt him do the same. She felt him press a kiss to the top of her head and when she pulled back, she saw him grin down at her. Then he looked behind her and frowned.

"Where's Rose?" He asked her.

"She ran off. We had kind of an eventful encounter with 'The Last Human'." Rhea said the last three words kind of snarkily.

The Doctor groaned. "I told you not to get into a fight."

Rhea pouted. "I didn't." She grumbled. "She just pissed me off."

The Doctor pushed himself through the crowd of staffs and moved in front of the door that they were all crowded in front of.

"Come on! Get back!" The Doctor ordered. He moved his sonic screwdriver over another control panel on the wall.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising." The computer's voice said.

Rhea gagged as the smell of burning flesh reached her nose and turned away, realising that the steward had deep-fried in there. She couldn't imagine the pain the man must have gone through. She could feel the blistering heat even from outside the doors.

"Was the steward in there?" Jabe asked, concerned, not able to tell yet.

The Doctor grimaced, noticing the same thing that Rhea had. "You can smell him. Hold on… there's another sun filter program to descend."

* * *

Rose heard 'Toxic' playing as she slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes in weariness.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending." The computer's voice said.

Rose shot up in alarm as the Sunfilter on the window descended, sending streams of hot yellow light into the room, which had been previously cool. She ran to the door and banged on it frantically.

"Let me out!" She shouted.

"Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor and Rhea ran down the corridor.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

The Doctor and Rhea arrived outside the door to attempt to make the Sunfilter rise again.

"Anyone in there?" Rhea asked, terrified.

"Let me out!" Rose shouted, frantically.

The Doctor looked up from the panel he was currently disabling. "Oh, well, it would be you!" The Doctor said, dryly.

"Open the door!" Rose yelled from inside the viewing gallery. The whole room started to smoke from the intense heat and Rose could feel it seeping into her clothes.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending."

The display on the control panel showed '_'Sunfilter Rising' _and the Doctor looked up, expectantly.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

The Doctor looked pleased with himself and Rhea and Rose sighed with relief.

"Sunfilter rising... Sunfilter descending."

Rhea swore and the Doctor cursed. "This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever." The Doctor muttered.

"Will you two stop mucking about?" Rose shouted.

"I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back!" The Doctor retorted.

"Open the door!"

"Hang on!"

"Rose, listen to me, go down the steps and hide behind the wall, it's the lowest point in the room. You'll be safe there until we can get the door open." Rhea instructed the blonde girl.

"The lock's melted!" Rose yelled when she touched the door, scalding herself.

Rose ran down the stairs and flattened herself to the floor in front of the platform.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor jabbed his screwdriver right inside the wires.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

Panting, Rose ran back to the door. However, the Doctor or Rhea couldn't open it.

"The whole thing's jammed. We can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!" The Doctor ordered Rose.

"Where're am I gonna go?! Ipswich?!" Rose shouted in a frightened sort of sarcasm.

"Earth Death in 5 minutes."

The Doctor and Rhea ran back to the Manchester suite.

"The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of platform one." Jabe told them, looking at her scanner.

"How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." Cassandra demanded.

The Doctor took the destabilised spider out of Jabe's hands, holding it in one hand while addressing the rest of the guests.

"Summon the steward!" The Moxx of Balhoon suggested.

"I'm sorry, but the steward is dead." Rhea informed all of them.

There was a gasp of shock from everyone in the vicinity, everyone realising what sort of position they were in. Closed off from anyone and everyone with no help whatsoever.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon asked.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe! He invited us! Talk to the face! Talk to the face!" Cassandra encouraged while the Face of Boe shook his head, helplessly.

Rhea growled, a fierce protectiveness over the alien, who had told her so much today, rising in her. "Watch it, you plastic trampoline!"

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought a little pet on board." The Doctor showed all of them the spider. "Let's send him back to Master."

He placed the spider on the floor. The spider scuttled along to Cassandra and looked up at her. Cassandra looked shifty for a moment, something that Rhea noticed with a dark frown, however, the spider moved onto the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra shouted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." He said, walking up to the Adherents of the Repeated Meme. One of the black-robed aliens tried to strike him but the Doctor caught its arm just in time and ripped it off in a display of strength that Rhea's eyes widening with shock.

"A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." The Doctor finished.

He ripped a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme crumpled into a mass of black cloaks. Everyone gasped, while Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the _real _troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" The Doctor said, nudging the spider with his boot-covered foot. "Go home!"

The spider ambled back over to Cassandra.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." Cassandra grumbled.

The Doctor simply raised his eyebrows.

"At arms!" Cassandra ordered her men in white. The two bodyguards with canisters on either side of her raised their sprayers.

"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" The Doctor asked, mockingly.

"Did you seriously just sass her?" Rhea whispered to the Doctor, impressed.

"With acid." Cassandra replied. Rhea's eyes widened and she grabbed the back of the Doctor's leather jacket and pulled him back, putting distance between the men in white and the Doctor and moving so that she was standing right next to him instead of behind him. "Oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face."

"I knew she was a bitch." Rhea muttered.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" The Doctor snorted.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Figures, five billion years later, and the only thing on a human's mind is money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little slut of yours." Cassandra hissed, eyeing Rhea with poorly-concealed disgust.

Rhea swore loudly and darkly, taking a step forward in anger. She heard the Doctor growl loudly at the insult next to her. "What did you just call me?" Rhea asked, quietly and dangerously. The men in white raised their sprayers threateningly, but Rhea was relaxed, the only sign of tension was her hands clenched into fists.

"Arrest her!" The Moxx of Balhoon shouted.

"Oh, shut it, pixie." Cassandra retorted. "I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in 3 minutes."

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn'"

"Then you'll burn with us, _baby_." Rhea hissed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but... I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders," Cassandra ordered. "Activate."

There was a series of explosions around the ship, the resulting impact knocking quite a few of the guests to the ground. However, both the Doctor and Rhea just stood there, completely unaffected.

"Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggled. "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings..." And she and her bodyguards teleported off the platform.

"Heat levels rising." The computer's voice said.

"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Balhoon pleaded.

"Only the steward would know how." Jabe remarked.

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, Rhea, come on." The Doctor said.

Rhea stopped them. "Jabe can't come with us. She's made of wood. She'll burn when the heat levels rise." Rhea insisted.

The Doctor nodded at her and turned to Jabe. "You should stay here. We'll go down to the ventilation room. Keep things under control here." The Doctor grabbed Rhea's hand and they rushed out of the Manchester suite. "You lot, just chill!" The Doctor called back the crowd over his shoulder.

"So not the time for puns, biker boy." Rhea muttered.

"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death in 2 minutes."

* * *

Rhea and the Doctor ran down the maintenance corridor towards the ventilation chamber.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical." The computerised voice intoned.

They reached the ventilation chamber and Rhea just stared in awe at the enormous fans that turned a full circle every few seconds.

"Oh. And guess where the switch is." The Doctor said. Rhea groaned as she saw that the switch was on the other side of chamber, across the fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

The Doctor pulled down the lever that was located on the side and the fans slowed down, enough so that someone could move past them.

"External temperature - five thousand degrees."

As soon as the Doctor let go of the lever, the lever jumped back to its original position and the fans started to speed up again. As the Doctor looked hopelessly at the fans, wondering what he was supposed to do now, Rhea reached over and pulled down the lever herself, holding it perpendicular to the wall and maintaining a force on it.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." The Doctor growled.

"I know." Rhea said, lightly.

"Rhea, your hands will burn when the temperature increases. The lever's made of metal." The Doctor argued.

Rhea's lips formed into a smirk, drawing attention to the redness and the fullness of her lipstick-stained lips, which the Doctor noticed thoroughly at this inopportune moment in time. _Why does she have to be so tempting?_

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord." She purred his title in out in a way that sent a shiver down his spine. She was the only woman in the universe who could have this sort of effect on him. He grinned at her, even greater pride and adoration for this wonderful woman growing in him, and he ran back to the fans.

"Heat levels - hazardous."

The Doctor dodged the first fan as it came down in an arc and ran underneath it. He looked anxiously up at the next one.

Rhea gripped onto the handle as tight as she could, placing as much force on it as possible. She ignored the growing ache in her arms, the sweat dripping down from her hair and the uncomfortable heat emanating from the metal and her hands. She looked down to see her hands trembling slightly, but she pressed down even harder, taking sharp breaths and keeping her face blank.

"Do you mind hurrying up?" Rhea shouted at the Doctor, looking at him, seeing that he had only passed the first fan.

"Oi!" The Doctor's voice came over the noise of the fans. "I'd like to see you try this!"

Rhea snorted. "I'd do it quicker than you."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, still standing before the second fan. He looked back at Rhea, noticing her sweating heavily and the red blotchy spots appearing on her hands from the burning metal. He looked up at her face, staring at her blank expression.

Rhea took no heed of the smell of burning flesh that assaulted her, realising that the coppery, metal tang in the air was the result of her own skin blistering and peeling off. She gripped the lever tighter as she felt her hands start to slip, aching to remove themselves from the blazing heat, due to her reflexes. She ignored the sharp pain in her palms and turned her attention back to the Doctor, trying to gauge how long it would take him to reset the computer, hoping that it was sooner rather than later.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical."

The Doctor dodged underneath the second fan. He stood in front of the third and last fan, hesitating slightly.

"Planet explodes in 10... 9..."

The Doctor closed his eyes. Everything grew quiet for him.

"8... 7... 6... 5... 4..."

He stepped, calmly, through the fan. He smiled widely when he realised he had made, every part of his body intact. _Good thing, it wouldn't do well for me to regenerate so quickly again._ He dashed to the switch, pulling it down sharply.

"Raise shields!" He shouted.

"…1"

The Doctor walked back through the fans and came to where Rhea was still standing. When he approached her, she slowly took her hands off the fans, wincing at the pain of some of her skin ripping off and glaring at the bloodstains on the lever. The Doctor held her arms, turning her hands so that her scorched palms were facing him instead. Even through the touch of his cool fingers soothed the burns on her hands. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to both palms, trying to find a patch of skin that was less burnt than the others. Rhea was touched by the display of affection from a man like this. She took it differently to the way her blue-suited man and her bow-tie boy showed their affection for her. When they kissed her forehead or held her hand, it showed they cared a lot for her and it was obvious, they did often. But this man, in front of her, she thought he wasn't the type to show overly explicit displays of affection. She relished in the fact that she could obtain that kind of contact from this reserved and protective man. She smiled slowly.

"Beautiful, broken skin." The Doctor murmured to himself, not intending for Rhea to hear him. He held her hands up higher, observing the burns more carefully. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver with one hand, the other still holding her hands, and ran the blue light over the singed flesh. Rhea hummed when she saw the device hover above her palms, the cool blue light actually soothing the skin. The Doctor turned it off, putting it back in his leather jacket. "There's a dermal regenerator in the TARDIS. We'll put your hands in there."

"Now?" Rhea asked, looking up at him.

"No, there's still something I have to do." The Doctor said, a dark and stormy expression passing and settling across his face. He started walking back towards the Manchester suite, to all of the guests, leading Rhea back with a hand on the small of her back since he couldn't hold her hand without causing her pain.

"What are you going to do?" Rhea asked, half terrified and half intrigued. The intrigue came from her own need to know what buttons pushed this Doctor too far and from her own inner bloodlust that demanded retribution from the thing that had almost obliterated all the people on this spaceship.

The Doctor stared at her, his eyes sending her a wrathful and determined look. "She burnt you, I'll burn _her_."

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea walked back into the observation gallery, briskly. Rhea stared at the aliens sitting around, some were wounded and some were dead. Rhea joined Rose, whose hair was damp and stuck to her forehead and she had lost her pink jumper, clad in a grey shirt and jeans.

"You all right?" Rose asked her, worried something may have happened to either of them while they were in the ventilation chamber.

Rhea simply gave her a wry smile and showed the girl her blistered and burnt palms, while the Doctor paced around the suite, glancing at them both but not saying a word.

"You all right?" Rose repeated to the Doctor, a little nervous with the way he was acting.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Doctor growled, his agitation showing that he was clearly not "all right". I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one - teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two - this feed must be hidden nearby." He said, without pausing once. He strode over to the ostrich egg that Cassandra had brought as a gift, broke it against the pedestal it was sitting on and the teleportation fell to the floor. The Doctor picked it up. "Idea number three - if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twisted a notch on the feed and Cassandra appeared before them, apparently in the middle of gloating.

"Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces." Cassandra was saying before she noticed exactly where she was. "Oh." She said, lamely.

"The Last Human." The Doctor snarled.

"So. You passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the err... the human club." Cassandra said quickly, evidently flustered by the change of events.

Rhea stepped forwards so that she was standing beside the Doctor. "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." She said, coldly, her hands trembling in anger at her sides.

"That depends on your definition of 'people'. And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter..." She said, arrogantly.

"And creak?" The Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And what?" Cassandra looked confused.

"Creak!" Rhea said, slowly. "You're creaking."

They watched as Cassandra's skin began to tighten and make sounds, like extremely thin leather was stretched. Her eyes slowly turned red and bloodshot, and her skin became paler and paler.

"What?" Cassandra shouted, panicking. "Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" At this point in her terror, she was covered in red blotches.

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor explained.

"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Doctor!" Cassandra said, pathetically and terrified.

"Help her." Rose whispered to them, shaken.

But the Doctor's face remained black and frozen. "Everything has its time and everything dies." He intoned.

"I'm... too... _young!_" Cassandra screamed, her skin shrivelling up.

She exploded on the spot, skin ripping and flying in all directions. Rhea ducked a particular large and bloody piece and watched the Doctor's expression, which was completely cold and not remotely fazed by the gore at all. He led Rhea out of the room.

* * *

He pulled Rhea into the med bay on the TARDIS, pushing her down into a seat and pulled the dermal regenerator over to them, slipping her hands underneath. They waited a for around five minutes before the Doctor switched the machine off and pulled her hands out, checking her hands over. The skin, which had been a mix of red and black dried blood, skin peeling off and many blisters, had looked like it had just been under a tanning booth for a little too long, almost like a mild sunburn. Rhea relaxed when she stopped feeling the constant pain coming from the wounds. She held her hands up, turned them over and examined them closely.

"You know, I'm good with burns, but that does wonders." Rhea said, casually.

The Doctor tensed for a second, thinking about a burn in particular, but then smirked and led her back to the console room and out of the TARDIS.

They stepped down from the platform and joined Rose at her spot in front of the window, staring at the Earth burn with a very vulnerable and upset look on her face, oblivious to Rhea and the Doctor watching her. Rocks flew past the window, the remnants of a civilisation gone in the blink of an eye. Rose turned around when she heard the Doctor's footsteps as she came to stand beside her.

"The end of the Earth. It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go." Rose murmured, tearfully. The Doctor and Rhea looked down at her. "All those years... all that history and no one was even looking. It's just..."

Rhea gripped Rose's hand, sharing her pain. The Doctor led them away from the window and back to the TARDIS.

"Come with me." He said.

* * *

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, back in her own time, London 2005. She looked around at the crowds of people, parents walking a pram down the road, teenagers laughing. She saw everything in a new light, finally understanding the fleeting nature of everything she held dear. The Doctor and Rhea stood beside her.

"You think it'll last forever. People, and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor and Rhea looked up at the sky. The Doctor looked back down, staring off into nothing. "My planet's gone."

Both Rose and Rhea turned to look at him, even though the latter had already heard this story before. Rhea moved her hand slightly and gripped his own large hand in hers, turning her face into his arm.

"It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before it's time." The Doctor murmured.

"What happened?" Rose asked, slowly.

"There was a war. And we lost." The Doctor said, simply, there was no better explanation.

"A war with who?" Rose continued.

The Doctor didn't answer, he just kept staring out into the distance.

Rose recovered. "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords." The Doctor corrected, wistfully. "They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling with Rhea alone because there's no one else." The Doctor explained, lowly.

"I'm not going to leave you. You've got me." Rhea murmured, tenderly, drawing his attention. "And for a while, by the looks of things. You can't get rid of me that easily." She said, smiling a little towards the end, but her eyes burned with sincerity.

"And there's me…" Rose added, smiling hesitatingly.

Rhea gave her a grateful look.

The Doctor looked at Rose. "You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" He asked her, ready to be understanding if she made that decision.

Rose just looked at them both, not knowing what to say or what to do. "I don't know. I want..." She sniffed the air. "Oh! Can you smell chips?"

Rhea and the Doctor laughed. "Yeah!" They said, simultaneously.

"I want chips." Rose told them.

The Doctor smiled and Rhea smiled because the Doctor was smiling. "Us too." Rhea said.

"Right then, before you two get me back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay." Rose said, nodding at them both.

"No money." The Doctor shrugged.

Rhea laughed. "All I've got is American money. Sorry, blondie." Rhea said, sticking her tongue out of teeth, teasingly.

"What sort of friends are you? Come on then, tightwads, chips are on me." Rose said, smiling wide. "We've only got five billion years before the shops close..."

"Oh, that was lame." Rhea groaned and the other two laughed.

"So, wait, chips are French fries?" Rhea asked them both.

"Yeah, what are 'chips' in America?" Rose asked, curiously.

"Potato chips." Rhea answered.

"Those are called crisps here." Rose said.

Rhea moaned. "Oh, great, a language barrier in a country that speaks English!" She exclaimed.

The other two laughed at her again, starting to walk down the street, Rhea nuzzling her head against the Doctor's shoulder as their fingers entwined.

* * *

A/N: Well, there's the end of The End of the World! The first shot at Nine! Tell me how you think I went! I hope you liked the way I wrote the Ninth Doctor and Rhea's relationship. I thought they'd be a bit more serious than her relationship with the Tenth or the Eleventh. I also feel like this Doctor would be affectionate with Rhea because of everything that he's lost. For the Doctor, Rhea's a constant, and he kind of holds onto her. You may not have been able to see that too much in this one but in other episodes with the Ninth Doctor, I'll try and make it more evident. I think she's really interested in this Doctor, especially because she knows that this is the regeneration straight after the Time War. It speaks to the psychologist in her.

I also hope you didn't mind Rhea saying that the Doctor's got her. Back when I did _Voyage of the Damned, _the Doctor told Rhea that his planet burned and Rhea said she was sorry. I felt like she's in a point in their relationship that she's accepted what her life's going to be now, not that she won't get a bit angry sometimes, but she accepts what she has to do and it allows her to make that commitment to the Doctor, without sounding too needy or desperate. I always felt, in the original episode, that the Doctor wouldn't have really respected Rose's "there's me" comment at that point in his life.

I hope you liked the little insight into Rhea's own dark side. She does have one and it does pop out in a couple of episodes. The reasons for her dark side will be explored later on. I hope you liked Rose's relationship with the two. I decided that Rose and Rhea would be very good friends, but there will be some jealousy (not over the Doctor, though) but only in specific chapters. I hope you liked the protective!Doctor I wrote in this chapter and the confrontation between the Doctor, Rhea and Jabe at the beginning. I wonder why the Doctor got so tense when Jabe asked whether Rhea was his wife? And Rhea's chat with the Face of Boe. I am going with the idea that Jack's the Face of Boe. I hope you liked the couple of sneak previews that Rhea got about her and the Doctor's future relationship. Next chapter will be back to the Tenth Doctor, I just can't stay away from him for too long.

Explanations of References: Amanda Lepore was a transgender celebrity whose spent millions on plastic surgery and Joan Rivers is an American television personality whose had seven hundred and thirty-nine procedures, which is even more than Cassandra!

Anyway, Read and Review!


	15. The Runaway Bride: Woman In White

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, then I'd force the Ninth Doctor to take me out to dinner every night.

A/N: Well, here's The Runaway Bride. I'm actually glad I didn't start the story off with this episode like I had originally planned. I liked the idea of writing Donna into an episode where Rhea already knew her. And I didn't get as many reviews for the last chapter as I did for the one before that. Hopefully that's not a sign of my writing quality. AND I HIT 100,000 WORDS! ISN'T THAT AMAZING!

Notes on Reviews:

Grapejuice101: I am really glad you liked it! Well, here's the next episode she goes to.

Tooclosefortety: I'm from Australia, actually. I do have a plan for a story where a girl from our universe becomes the Doctor's companion instead of Rose, but it'll be a while before that story comes out, I have a few ideas before that. I'm so glad you like Rhea and her personality. All of those Doctor/OC ones you listed I love. The Ponds as a married couple will be awhile but we will be seeing Amy and Rory very soon (I mean in episode terms, not in chapter terms). I have done more episodes with the Tenth Doctor so far, I know, I will be getting back to the Eleventh and the Ninth as well, very soon. I haven't actually watched Peter Capaldi in anything yet, but I am keen to see how he is as the Doctor.

Mrs Smith: Yes, I have read those stories, but in mine, Rhea is not a Whovian, she's a woman from the Doctor Who universe who never meets him in order.

beulah2013: I'm glad you liked the interaction between the 9th Doctor and Rhea. I tried to make him just a bit affectionate with her. I thought he might cling onto her a bit, especially because he sees her as a constant and the war is just over for him.

Warnings: Language, sexual innuendos.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Runaway Bride: Woman in White

Rhea sat on the jump seat in the console room, laptop propped up on her knees, as she rested her feet just underneath the console. She had come out of the shower around half an hour ago, eager to remove the traces of sweat from her body and change out of the clothes that had survived a Sontaran invasion and the end of the Earth. She dressed herself in grey patterned strapless top and a green skirt that came up to the middle of her thighs. She stretched her head as far as it would go, trying to remove the ache in her neck. She typed in 'Platform One' as the first entry in her document, realising that this was the earliest adventure, so far at least, she had done with the Doctor. She typed in 'Sontaran Invasion (ATMOS)' after her 'Titanic' entry and gave the year after the one she had put down for that, guessing that those adventures were close together.

"What is she doing?" She heard Rose asking the Doctor, both watching her from the other end of the console.

"She's making a list of all the adventures she has with me, in chronological order, at least for me, so she knows what she's done and what she hasn't." The Doctor answered Rose.

Rhea looked up from her laptop. "You know I can here you. What year is it, Rose?" Rhea asked, turning to the blonde.

Rose looked at the Doctor for his assurance and at his nod, turned back to Rhea. "It's 2005 for me."

Rhea hummed and typed that in after 'Platform One', saved the document and closed the laptop, putting it aside. She turned to them, getting off the captain's chair and walking over to them, resting her waist against the console. "Where are we off to now, biker boy?"

And then she swore in pain, when a sharp pain assaulted her head, forcing her to sink down to the ground. Rose reached out for her, trying to help but the Doctor stopped her, kneeling in front of her, gripping her arms tightly. She gripped his larger, thicker ones back, forcing herself not to shut her eyes.

"I'll see you soon." She muttered to him, smiling slightly.

"Do you have to go?" He murmured, helplessly.

She lifted a hand and touched his cheek with her fingers, briefly. "Soon, well, hopefully, biker boy." And she shut her eyes.

When she opened them the next time, she was lying on the captain's chair, her head and arms hanging off. She sat up abruptly, ignoring the ache in her neck and shoulders, which led her to assume that she had been unconscious for awhile. She saw the Doctor, the tenth Doctor, with his amazing hair and now what looked like to be a pinstripe suit, instead of a blue one. She raised an eyebrow. She definitely liked it on him.

He looked up and saw her, coming over to her and helping her up onto her feet.

"Whoa, I feel drunk." Rhea said, wobbling on her feet. "I dig the suit, by the way."

"It's the after effect of the headache and the travelling." The Doctor told her, making sure she could stand on her own feet before letting go. "Where were you?"

"Platform One and Cassandra." Rhea said, rubbing her forehead, dark thoughts growing when she thought about the bitchy trampoline.

"With number nine. That was your first time meeting him. What did you think?" The Doctor asked, hesitating slightly. He knew that body had a bit of a temper and so did Rhea. Hopefully, they had gotten on better than oil and water.

Rhea smiled softly. "I like him. He's all intense. He's interesting." Rhea's smile became wider. "But that doesn't mean I like you too." She leaned up and tapped him on the cheeks with her hands, stroking his cheekbones with her thumbs, briefly. "I'm gonna need nicknames for each of you, otherwise I'll get confused. I've got one for your future self and I called you 'biker boy' back then, and they've got to be specific, 'cause I'll just keep calling you 'alien boy' or something generic no matter what face you've got on…" She eyed, head to toe. "I can only call you 'blue boy' if you've got the blue suit on."

The Doctor looked confused. "I wear a blue suit?"

Rhea nodded, emphatically. "Yes, you do, and make sure you do wear it. It looks very, very good on you."

The Doctor looked smug and Rhea rolled her eyes.

"I'm tossing up between 'pretty boy' and 'matchstick man'. I don't know which way to go." Rhea said, frowning as she tried to make her decision.

"Pretty boy?" The Doctor asked, offended.

"Well, you are very pretty." Rhea said, grinning. "But in a good way. A very good way." She purred, at this point, definitely checking him out.

"What about 'matchstick man'?" The Doctor asked, scrunching his face up when he said the nickname.

"You are very skinny." Rhea commented. "Like really skinny."

Suddenly, gold dust flew straight from the walls of the TARDIS and came together in front of them, reassembling itself in the form of a redheaded woman in a wedding dress in the console room. Rhea stood up sharply, one of her hands going to the gun she had slipped into the holster that was strapped to her thigh. But as the gold dust started to disappear, the form of the woman became clearer and Rhea recognised the woman. She turned to the Doctor and saw him staring at the woman with alarm, realising that this might be the first time that the Doctor met Donna. She resolved not to say anything that may give the impression that she knew Donna already.

"What?" The Doctor managed to say, aghast. Rhea was quickly reminded of when the TARDIS had crashed into the Titanic.

Donna spun around to face them with a soft cry.

"Who are you?" Donna demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"But-" The Doctor began, looking around, dumbfounded.

"Where am I?" Donna exclaimed.

"What?" The Doctor repeated the question he was, apparently, so fond of.

"What the hell is this place?" Donna asked, her voice rising in pitch.

"What?" The Doctor looked around for some explanation, utterly bewildered.

"You can't do that, I wasn't... we're in flight!" The Doctor spluttered. "That is-that is physically impossible! How did-"

"Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now, where am I?" Donna asked, commandingly. To be honest, Rhea couldn't blame her. She looked like she was just about to get married. This situation would be a downer for anyone.

Rhea suppressed a smirk at the redhead's agitation. _Same old Donna._

The Doctor just stared at her. Rhea rolled her eyes. "Inside the TARDIS." Rhea answered.

"The what?" Donna asked.

"The TARDIS." Rhea repeated.

"The what?"

"The TARDIS!" Rhea shouted.

The Doctor turned back to the console.

"The what?" Donna repeated for the third time.

"It's called the TARDIS." The Doctor said.

"That's not even a proper word." Donna argued, angrily. "You're just saying things."

"How did you get in here?" Rhea asked Donna, frowning.

Donna was rigid with rage. "Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh, my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it." Donna ranted, not even pausing for breath.

The Doctor and Rhea watched her rant, not saying a word, the Doctor's face a picture of confusion which forced Rhea to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Who the hell is Nerys?" The Doctor asked.

"Your best friend." Donna replied, snarkily. Rhea pursed her lips in a smile and moved over so that she was standing next to the Doctor.

"Hold on, wait a minute, what're you dressed like that for?" The Doctor asked Donna. Rhea groaned, resisting the urge to smack her forehead. _This man is totally oblivious_.

"Oh, I'm going ten-pin bowling." Donna said, sweetly and sarcastically. "What do you think, dumbo?" Rhea laughed softly. "I was halfway up the aisle!" Donna yelled at the Doctor.

The Doctor began to fiddle with the controls whilst Donna walked around, rambling.

"I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away! And then you two, I dunno, you drugged me or something!" Donna accused.

Rhea's eyes widened. "Hang on a minute, we haven't done anything!" She said, shaking her head.

Donna glared at her. "We're having the police on you! Me and my husband - as soon as he is my husband - we're gonna sue the living backside off ya!" She threatened.

The Doctor didn't replay, engrossed in operating the controls, and Rhea just stayed quiet, not exactly sure what to do in this situation. Donna noticed the doors and rushed over to them, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible, but ultimately failing due to the sheer size of wedding dress. The Doctor and Rhea looked up in alarm, hurrying after her.

"No, wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't-" The Doctor warned, urgently.

But his warning came too late, Donna had already thrown open the doors and was looking at a supernova with shock and awe. Her mouth fell open slightly and the Doctor and Rhea moved so that they were standing next to her.

"You're in space." The Doctor started, but Rhea cut him off.

"Really, no way, never would have guessed that. I mean, it's not like she's looking at a supernova or anything." Rhea said, sarcastically.

The Doctor glared at her and continued. "Outer Space. This is…my...space-ship. It's called the 'TARDIS'." His voice was much gentler than before.

"How am I breathing?" Donna asked, her voice just above a murmur, which Rhea guessed was a huge change for her.

"The TARDIS is protecting us." The Doctor told her.

"Who are you two?" Donna asked them.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rhea. You?"

"Donna." She answered.

The Doctor looked the redhead up and down. "Human?"

"Yeah. Is that optional?"

"Well, it is for…me." The Doctor said, hesitating at the end.

Donna recoiled slightly. "You're an alien." She said, calmly.

"Yeah."

There was a pause. "It's freezing with these doors open." Donna said, after a moment.

The Doctor reached out and slammed the doors shut and darted back to the console, Rhea running up after him.

"But I don't understand it and I understand everything! This-this can't happen! There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the TARDIS and transport itself inside. It must be..."

It was like the Doctor was on a sugar high, all energy. He grabbed an ophthalmoscope and used it to peer into Donna's eyes, trying to find something that would explain why she had suddenly appeared into the TARDIS.

"Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic—" The Doctor rambled.

Donna reached out and slapped him across the face, cutting him short.

Rhea barked out a laugh, involuntarily. She covered her mouth with her hand to stop the snickers from escaping.

"What was that for?" The Doctor asked, indignantly, his face screwing up into a very adorable expression. Rhea smiled wide and resisted the urge to kiss him hard, then screwed up her own face as she realised what she had just thought.

"Get me to the church!" Donna yelled.

The Doctor dropped his instruments and went back over to the controls. "Right! Fine! I don't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?"

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, England, Earth, the Solar System."

Donna suddenly spotted a purple blouse that was slung over one of the railings around the console. She snatched it up and stormed back over to where the Doctor was navigating the TARDIS.

"I knew it." She said, accusingly. Rhea frowned at the purple piece of cloth she was holding. "Acting all innocent." She showed him the blouse.

"I'm not the first, am I? How many other women have you abducted?" Donna asked, angrily.

The Doctor looked up from the controls and his eyes fell on the blouse in Donna's hand. His face fell and his eyes darkened.

"That's our friend's." The Doctor said, quietly.

Rhea tensed, understanding that the blouse belonged to Rose.

"Where is she, then? Popped out for a spacewalk?" Donna said, sarcastically.

"She's gone." The Doctor said in the same tone.

"Gone where?"

The Doctor paused. "We lost her."

Rhea's eyes widened. _What happened to Rose?_ Her head fell so that she wasn't looking at Donna and the Doctor's interaction anymore, her eyes firmly on the controls of the TARDIS.

"Well, hurry up so that you can lose me." Donna said, furiously. Then she paused, realising that this must be a sensitive topic for them and her voice lowered in pitch. "How do you mean, 'lost'?"

Rhea looked up to see the Doctor glare at Donna, darkly, and advance. She took a step forward to stop the Doctor and saw Donna's fearful gaze as he only snatched Rose's blouse away from her, making his way towards the doors.

"Right! Chiswick."

* * *

Donna, Rhea and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, but didn't recognise where they had landed.

"I said 'Saint Mary's'. What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?" Donna asked.

The Doctor stroked the TARDIS with concern and Rhea looked at him, worried.

"Something's wrong with her…" The Doctor murmured.

Donna rolled her eyes, ignoring him.

"It's like she's…recalibrating!" The Doctor shouted, rushing back inside the TARDIS and over to the console, Rhea right behind him.

"She's digesting." The Doctor told Rhea.

Donna stood outside with her mouth open, finally noticing that she had stepped out of a police box that's interior was much larger than it's exterior.

"What have you eaten? What's wrong?" The Doctor asked the TARDIS, one hand on the rotor. "Donna? You've really gotta think. Is there anything that might've caused this?" He called out.

Donna wasn't listening. She paced around the outside of the TARDIS, feeling the walls in utter bewilderment.

"Anything you might've done? Any sort of alien contacts? I can't let you go wandering off in case you're dangerous. I mean, have you... have you seen lights in the sky? Or... did you touch something? Something-something different? Something strange? Something made out of a sort of metal or... who're you getting married to?" The Doctor rambled on and on until he came to the last question, ignorant of the fact that Donna wasn't listening.

All the while, Donna had completed her circuit of the TARDIS and had popped her head back inside, as if to check that she wasn't just imagining how big it was. Having confirmed this, she stumbled backwards, hands covering her mouth in shock and terror.

"Are you sure he's human? He's not a bit overweight with a zip around his forehead, is he?" The Doctor asked, looking back outside the TARDIS.

"Do I even want to know?" Rhea asked.

The peculiarity of the TARDIS was too much for Donna to handle, she ran for it. The Doctor and Rhea ran after her.

"Donna!" They both shouted after her and managed to catch up to her.

"Donna." The Doctor began, calmer.

"Leave me alone. I just want to get married." Donna said, quietly, keeping her eyes firmly straight ahead.

"Come back to the TARDIS." The Doctor said, soothingly, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"No way." Donna shook her head, holding her wedding dress above her ankles so it wouldn't get dirty. "That box is too... weird."

"It's... bigger on the inside, that's all." Rhea encouraged.

"Oh! That's all?" Donna said, sarcastically. She sighed in fear and checked her watch. "Ten past three. I'm gonna miss it." Donna whispered, sounding as if she were suppressing tears.

"You can phone them. Tell them where you are." The Doctor offered.

"How do I do that?" Donna asked.

"Haven't you got a mobile?"

Both Rhea and Donna stopped and turned to look at him. Rhea just shook her head in disbelief, closing her eyes. _I can't believe he just said that_.

"I'm in my wedding dress. It doesn't have pockets. Who has pockets? Have you ever seen a bride with pockets? When I went to my fitting at Chez Alison, the one thing I forgot to say is give me pockets!" Donna shouted as the Doctor scratched the back of his neck.

The Doctor paused. "…This man you're marrying, what's his name?" The Doctor asked.

"Lance." Donna said, sweetly, a smile forming on her face. Rhea had to grin at the loved-up look on her face.

"Good luck Lance." The Doctor said.

Rhea smacked him on the arm, smiling when she heard him wince.

Donna reared up in anger, changing her manner with terrifying abruptness. "Oi! No stupid Martian is gonna stop me from getting married. To hell with you!" She shouted before running off.

"I'm-I'm not…I'm not… I'm not from Mars." The Doctor said, feebly, before both of them ran after Donna.

"Seriously, that's all you can say?" Rhea asked.

* * *

Donna ran down the street, a sight in her wedding dress.

"Taxi!" Donna shouted.

The Doctor and Rhea joined her and watched as the taxi ignored Donna completely.

"Why's his light on?" Donna asked.

"There's another one!" The Doctor said, pointing.

He ran and tried to catch it, but missed it by a millisecond.

"Taxi!" Donna shouted again.

The three of them stumbled into the road in their effort to catch the driver's attention, but again, it just drove straight past.

"Oi!" Donna screamed.

"There's another one!" Rhea shouted, running and waving for attention. And again, it ignored them.

"Do you have this effect on everyone? Why aren't they stopping?" The Doctor asked Donna.

Rhea reached behind her and smacked him yet again. "Stop being rude." She ordered.

"They think I'm in fancy dress." Donna explained.

Another taxi drove past, the driver blowing his horn. "Stay off the scotch darlin'!"

"They think I'm drunk." Donna said, throwing her hands up in the air.

Two guys in their car yelled out of the window as they drove past. "You're fooling no-one, mate!" They shouted.

"They think I'm in drag!" Donna growled and the Doctor looked Donna up and down, appraisingly.

Rhea rolled her eyes at the both of them. "Hold on, hold on."

She held her thumb and index finger to her lips and whistled loud and piercing, causing Donna and the Doctor to wince and cover their ears. However, it did what it was supposed to do and attracted the attention of a taxi, which grinded to a halt before them. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna clambered into the back seat.

"Saint Mary's in Chiswick, just off Hayden Road. It's an emergency, I'm getting married! Just... hurry up!" Donna ordered the driver.

"You know it'll cost you, sweetheart? Double rates today." The taxi driver told them.

"Oh, my God!" Donna said to the Doctor and Rhea. "Have you got any money?"

"Um…no. And you?" The Doctor asked, awkwardly.

Rhea rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of the Doctor's face, while Donna gestured to her dress, violently. "Pockets!" Both women shouted.

The taxi screeched to a halt and the three got out, with the Doctor slamming the door behind them.

"And that goes double for your mother!" Donna yelled at the driver as the taxi drove off.

"I'll have him. I've got his number. I'll have him. Talk about the Christmas Spirit." Donna muttered.

"Is it Christmas?" The Doctor and Rhea asked, looking around, vaguely surprised, Rhea moreso than the Doctor. The last time it had been Christmas for her, she had been on a spaceship named after the most infamous ship in Earth's history. She was reminded of how the Doctor said all of his Christmases were like that. She wondered if this was an example and a part of her didn't want to find out.

"Well, duh. Maybe not on Mars, but here it's Christmas Eve." Donna hit him, having spot something in the distance. "Phone box!"

They rushed towards it.

"We can reverse the charges!" Donna said.

"Why are you getting married on Christmas Eve?" Rhea asked her.

"Can't bear it. I hate Christmas. Honeymoon in Morocco. Sunshine - lovely." Donna answered.

They reached the phone box and the Doctor held the door open for Donna.

"What's the operator? I've not done this in years. What do you dial? 100?" Donna asked them both.

Rhea shrugged, but the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and flicked it at the payphone. "Just-just call the direct." The Doctor told her.

The dial tone buzzed on the end of the receiver.

"What did you do?" Donna demanded.

"Something…Martian." The Doctor said, vaguely, distracted and looking around. "Now, phone. We'll get money!" Rhea and the Doctor sprinted to the nearest cash machine. The man in front of them was currently using the machine at an aggravatingly slow pace, while the Doctor hopped from foot to foot in his impatience.

"Stop that!" Rhea hissed. "You look like you're going to have an accident." And the Doctor's movements calmed down a bit.

After a few minutes, the couple were still waiting to use the cash machine, and Rhea could feel herself growing more agitated by the second. Finally, the man in front of them left. The Doctor darted forwards, and Rhea cast a furtive look around, making sure no one was looking at them, and gave the Doctor the 'go-ahead' signal. The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to extract cash from the machine and he took the money. He looked around and his eye caught a row of masked Santas playing trumpets a short distance away. He watched them, remembering his last encounter with similar Santas, his suspicions provoked.

"Taxi!" They heard Donna's voice shout out.

They turned around and saw a taxi pull up beside her and watched her converse with the driver for a few seconds before shouting back to the Doctor and Rhea. "Thanks for nothing, spaceman, spacegirl! I'll see you two in court." She climbed into the taxi and it drove away. Only then was it revealed that the driver of the taxi was a masked Santa.

"Donna!" The Doctor and Rhea shouted after them.

The Doctor looked back at the masked Santas. One of them lowered its trumpet, ominously. Now all three of the trumpets were held like weapons, pointing towards the two. The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the ATM, causing notes to fly everywhere. There was a mad scramble and confusion as people ran around the square, trying to catch the money and stuff it into their pockets. The Doctor and Rhea turned around and ran back in the direction of the TARDIS.

"So, what's with the Santas?" Rhea asked the Doctor as they reached the TARDIS doors at a sprint.

"They're like pilot fish. They're scavengers who take anything on a planet that's of value before the big threat arrives." The Doctor explained as they ran up the ramp of the TARDIS and up to the console. "And one of them is Donna's driver."

Rhea hung her head as she pulled down one of the levers and slammed her palm down on one of the buttons. _Oh, that's wonderful_.

* * *

Donna and the masked Santa drove along the road in the taxi.

"I promise you, mate, I'll give you the rest when we get there." Donna told the driver and then looked down at herself. "Oh, I look a mess."

She took her veil off, trying to catch her breath. "Hurry up!" She shouted at the driver.

Donna looked outside the window. "Hold on a minute, I said 'Chiswick'. You've missed the turning." She said, panicking slightly, but there was no response from the driver. "'Scuse me? We should've turned off back there. We're going the wrong way!"

* * *

The Doctor pummelled the TARDIS into action by using his usual instruments, namely, his fists and his mallet, and the rotor started to rise and fall. Rhea smacked his hands away, pressing a button down and shoving a lever up. "Stop hitting her! It'll only make us slower!"

* * *

The taxi joined the motorway and cut across the lanes, causing the other drivers on the road to beep their horns, angrily.

"What the hell are you doing? I'm late for the wedding. My own wedding. Do you get that?" Donna shouted at the driver.

* * *

The Doctor and Rhea traced the taxi's progress on the TARDIS scanner.

* * *

"Turn around! Turn this cab around right now! Are you deaf or what?" Donna yelled.

She lunged forward, pulling the Santa hood off the driver and his mask fell off, revealing a robot underneath. Donna recoiled back into her seat, shocked.

"Oh, my god." She murmured.

She started pushing the door and window, desperately looking for a way out, trying to attract the attention of the other drivers, hoping that someone would see her and try to help her.

"Help me! Help me! Help me!" Donna shouted, frantically, pummelling the glass. "Help me! Help me!"

A driver in a red van noticed her, looking concerned, but was powerless to help seeing as they were on a motorway.

"Help me! Help me! Get me out! Help me! Help me! I'm being driven by a robot!"

* * *

Sparks erupted from the TARDIS console while she tilted dangerously.

"Behave!" The Doctor shouted, hitting her with a hammer.

"Stop hitting her!" Rhea shrieked, as she gripped onto the console with both hands, as they were flung in all directions.

The TARDIS fell out of the sky just beside Donna's taxi, spinning in the air.

"…You are kidding me." Donna murmured after a moment, staring at the blue box with shock.

"Can you get this?" The Doctor said to Rhea.

"Yeah, I've got it." Rhea said, moving over to where the Doctor was standing and pulled down a lever, sharply.

The Doctor stumbled over to the doors, amidst the turbulence, and threw them open. The TARDIS was parallel to the taxi, zooming along beside it on the motorway. Donna stared at him, hands pressed against the window.

"Open the door!" The Doctor shouted at her.

"Do you what?"

"Open the door!" The Doctor repeated.

"I can't, it's locked!"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, one hand holding onto the doorframe, and pointed it at the car door, unlocking it and enabling Donna to push the window down.

"Santa's a robot." Donna told the Doctor as if he didn't know.

"Donna, open the door." The Doctor ordered.

"What for?" Donna asked.

"You've got to jump!" Rhea shouted from her place at the console, while she hit buttons and pumped a lever.

The robot driver turned its head slightly when it heard this.

"I'm not bleedin' flip jumping, I'm supposed to be getting married!" Donna shouted, shrilly.

The robot put its foot down on the accelerator and the taxi overtook the TARDIS. Rhea cursed and yanked a lever down and twisted a knob and shrieked, cursing loudly in three different languages and shrinking back when random explosions and sparks burst out of the console. The Doctor looked back at Rhea, worriedly, and she waved him off, silently telling him to concentrate on Donna. The TARDIS banged the roof of the car of a distressed man before pulling herself back in line with the taxi. The Doctor struggled to maintain his balance and then disabled the robot with his sonic screwdriver.

"I know, I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Rhea shouted at the TARDIS, when she heard the angry vibration from all around her, as she ran around the console a thousand times, pulling a couple of levers down. "It's not _my _fault! Blame him! I'm trying my best over here! But hey, if you ever get a physical form, you can punch me in the face, I won't even punch back, and coming from me, that's a huge thing!"

"Listen to me, you've got to jump!" The Doctor shouted at Donna, knowing that both he and Rhea couldn't keep this up for much longer.

"I'm not jumping on a motorway." Donna said, stubbornly.

"Whatever that thing is, it needs you. And whatever it needs you for, it's not good. Now, come on!" The Doctor shouted, exasperated.

"I'm in my wedding dress!" Donna screamed at him.

"Yes, you look beautiful, but that dress is going to pretty useless at your fucking funeral, now, Donna, get your ass in the TARDIS right now!" Rhea shouted at Donna, barely able to see her past the Doctor, only seeing a flash of white.

Breathing heavily with fear, Donna opened the door and positioned herself ready to jump. The Doctor held out his arms, ready to catch her.

"I can't do it." Donna said, fearfully.

"Trust me." The Doctor said, calmly.

"Is that what you said to her? Your friend? The one you lost? Did she trust you?" Donna asked him, staring into his eyes. Donna looked past him over to Rhea, who was still struggling to keep the TARDIS airborne and stay on her feet. "Does she trust you?"

Rhea watched as the Doctor flinched slightly and then straightened. "Yes, she did. And she is not dead. She is so alive. And Rhea would trust me with everything she has and everything she is, I know that. Now, jump!"

Donna, with a scream, jumped and landed on top of the Doctor in a heap on the ramp. Rhea pressed a button to slam the doors shut and the TARDIS zoomed back into the sky.

Rhea sank to the ground in front of the console, hugging her legs underneath her knees. The Doctor ran to her and kneeled in front of her.

"I hate you. I really, really hate you. I'm never speaking to you again." Rhea muttered, her head falling onto his shoulder. His hand reached up and stroked her hair, kissing the strands as he did so, as she calmed down, but still breathing heavily.

* * *

Donna looked at her watch, just past half past three. The Doctor had landed the TARDIS on the roof of some high rise building and the couple were now coughing and spluttering as the Doctor tried to extinguish the smoke billowing from the TARDIS doors.

"This is all your fault." Rhea grumbled at the Doctor as she leaned against the doors.

"The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours." The Doctor said, ignoring Rhea, and the two of them walked over to Donna. "You all right?"

Donna shrugged, preventing her emotions from rising to the surface. "Doesn't matter."

"Did we miss it?" Rhea asked, gently.

"Yeah."

"Well, you can book another date…" The Doctor trailed off.

"Course we can." Donna agreed, nodding, but as though she didn't want to believe it.

"Still got the honeymoon…" Rhea murmured.

Donna shrugged. "It's just a holiday now."

"Yeah…yeah…sorry." The Doctor said.

"It's not your fault." Donna told him, shaking her head.

"Oh!" The Doctor smiled. "That's a change."

Donna gave a wry chuckle. "Wish we had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right."

The Doctor looked guilty for a second. "... Yeah, yeah. But... even if we did, we couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline. Apparently." He finished off to act as if he didn't know anything about time travel.

Donna gave the Doctor a suspicious glace and walked over and sat on the edge of the roof. Rhea nudged the Doctor and gestured for him to take off his suit jacket and give it to Donna. The Doctor and Rhea walked over and the Doctor sat beside her, Rhea on his other side, the Doctor draping his jacket over Donna's shoulders.

"God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat." Donna said and Rhea grinned, holding back a laugh.

"Oh, and you'd better put this on." The Doctor said, pulling out what looked like a wedding ring from his pocket.

"Oh, do you have to rub it in?" Donna complained, holding out her hand anyway.

"Those creatures can trace you. This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden." He slipped it onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp." He said, popping the 'p' at the end.

"For better or for worse." Donna mused, playing along, causing the Doctor to smile at her.

"So, come on then. Robot Santas, what are they for?" Donna asked them.

"Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. We met them last Christmas." The Doctor said and then, his face fell. Rhea stared at him in worry, sliding her hand between their bodies and gripping his hand tightly.

"Why, what happened then?" Donna asked, frowning.

The Doctor paused, looking at her, steadily. "…Great big spaceship? Hovering over London? You didn't notice?"

Rhea raised an eyebrow and the Doctor turned to her, hastily. She opened her mouth to ask and he quickly covered it with his hand. "Spoilers." He warned.

"You know, one of these days I'm going to be able to use that word on you, and I don't think you'll like it." Rhea grumbled.

"I had a bit of a hangover." Donna said, dismissively, staring out across the buildings.

Rhea smirked and the Doctor decided not to pursue this. He scanned the area around them with the sonic screwdriver.

"We spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate." He said, nodding over to his right. "With this... family. Our friend, she had this family. Well, they were..." He paused for a moment, lost in thought. Rhea rested her head on his shoulder, nuzzling herself into his neck, and he rested his head on hers. Rhea knew he was talking about Rose and her eyes closed, wondering what had happened to that naïve, curious blonde girl she had met the last time she had jumped. The way the Doctor talked about it, the way he had looked when Donna had shown him the shirt, something bad had happened. _Was Rose dead?_

"Still…gone now." He finished, his form tensing.

"Your friend…who was she?" Donna asked them.

The Doctor ignored her last question and turned to look at her intensely. "Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know..." He made a face, contemplating her. "What's your job?" The Doctor asked, suddenly, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of the jacket that Donna had on.

"I'm a secretary." Donna replied.

"It's weird, I mean, you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important..." The Doctor rambled, scanning her, and not understanding that he was being particularly insulting.

Rhea growled. "Don't listen to him Donna." She said, glaring at the Doctor.

Donna looked over at Rhea. "Tell me something, do you ever get the urge to punch him in the face?" She shoved the screwdriver away from her. "Stop bleeping me!"

The Doctor and Donna looked away from each other, each having a glare on their face. Rhea pursed her lips and fought a smile. "Oh, honey, all the time." The Doctor looked at Rhea with a wounded look. She reached out and tugged the back of his hair with her fingers, lightly and affectionately, wanting to see how it would feel in her hands. She imagined repeating the motion somewhere else and under different circumstances with a little bit more strength and shook her head, violently. _Time and place, Rhea_.

"What kind of secretary?" The Doctor asked Donna, turning to her.

"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping." Donna said, a smile forming on her face. "I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought, I'm never gonna fit in here." Rhea could hear the same lack of self worth she had heard in Donna's voice during the Sontaran affair and frowned, knowing that she had to do something about that. Low self-esteem could lead to very bad decisions. She knew that better than anyone. "And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee." Rhea tensed. "And Lance, he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me! But he was nice, he was funny." The way Donna smiled, it was easy to tell how in love she was, it was incredibly endearing. "And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him, one cup of coffee. That was it."

"When was this?" The Doctor asked.

"Six months ago." Donna answered.

Rhea frowned. "A bit quick, to get married…"

"Well…" She drawled. "He insisted. And he nagged... and he nagged me... And he just wore me down and then finally, I just gave in." Rhea smirked, she got the idea that it was the other way around. Donna didn't seem to be the type of girl to respond to nagging.

"What does HC Clements do?" The Doctor asked Donna, distracting her from her thoughts about her soon-to-be husband.

"Oh, security systems, you know... entry codes, ID cards, that sort of thing." Donna said. "If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths'."

"Keys…" The Doctor mused.

"Maybe someone's looking for something." Rhea muttered to the Doctor.

"Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian-boy, Martian-girl."

Rhea screwed her face up. "I'm not even an alien!" Rhea complained.

"Yeah. And I'm not from Mars." The Doctor told Donna.

Donna nodded and the Doctor stood up, lending a hand to both Rhea and Donna to help them up.

"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken." Donna said.

* * *

However, it looked as though everyone had decided to go on with the reception without Donna. 'Merry Christmas Everybody' blared out at full volume, everyone was dancing, drinking, eating and laughing. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna walked in. Donna looked around at the merriment, thunderstruck. She folded her arms, angry. Rhea just looked around the room, shaking her head in disbelief. _Who has the reception without the bride? Poor Donna. _Sylvia spotted Donna first and froze, the rest of the room soon following suit until all was silent and all eyes were on Donna, the Doctor and Rhea.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna asked, slowly.

* * *

A/N: And, there was the first chapter of The Runaway Bride! I was a little bit hesitant when writing this chapter, because I wanted to do justice to the Doctor's grief about Rose without giving too much away to Rhea. I know this chapter was a bit Rhea-lite, but there will be more in the next chapters, with how she reacts to Lance's betrayal and how she comforts Donna. You'll get an insight into the few comments that Rhea makes about herself and her life. I hope you liked the few sweet moments between the Doctor and Rhea in this chapter. And Rhea does care about Rose, I know she didn't mention Rose a lot in this chapter, but a part of her doesn't want to bring it up because she think it will upset the Doctor and the other part doesn't want to think about it because she's worried about what happened to Rose. Please don't think she's unsympathetic, she's just really good at avoidance. And there was the bit in the end about Rhea "imagining" the Doctor somewhere else. Can you tell me where that somewhere else might be?

Anyway, Read and Review!


	16. The Runaway Bride: Black Widow

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, I would learn how to use a gun from River Song.

A/N: Here's the next chapter of The Runaway Bride. I plan on making all the specials around three chapters long, because they're longer than the usual episode. So, there should be another chapter after this to finish off The Runaway Bride. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter and I hope you like the interaction between Rhea and the Doctor and Rhea and Donna in this chapter.

Notes on Reviews:

Beulah2013: Oh, she will, I think she'll be getting a little bolder with the Doctor, this is just her normal flirty nature, but as she gets closer to him, she'll definitely start doing more racy things with him. But, I think she's definitely seeing him in a new light, and her growing feelings for him will be shown in a future episode, one coming up very soon.

Haleyrayxx: Sorry, I'm not doing The Doctor's Wife yet, it won't be for awhile, because I wanted Rhea to kind of forget what happened in _The Runaway Bride_, so Rhea's reaction to getting hit will be very interesting. Plus, I'm glad it's 'almost', I'm still waiting for Rhea to actually hit someone important.

LilGreenearth97: I'm glad you liked the way I characterised the characters as well as Rhea. Wow, that's really nice praise, another element of adventure, was not expecting that! I'm very glad you liked Rhea and the story.

Romanadvoratrelu: I'm glad you like her in this story!

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendos.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Runaway Bride: Black Widow

_Sylvia spotted Donna first and froze, the rest of the room soon following suit until all was silent and all eyes were on Donna, the Doctor and Rhea._

"_You had the reception without me?" Donna asked, slowly._

"Donna…what happened to ya?" A dark-skinned man in a tuxedo stepped forward and asked. Rhea guessed that this must be Lance.

"You had the reception without me?" Donna asked again, her voice raising up a notch.

There was an awkward pause as the guests hid their faces in shame and embarrassment.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor and this is Rhea." The Doctor introduced himself, cheerfully, trying to break the pause.

Rhea elbowed him in the side and smiled at everyone. "Not the time, honey." She muttered.

Donna turned to them. "They had the reception without me."

Rhea took a step forward so that she was closer to Donna. "Yes, we gathered." She said, placing a comforting hand on Donna's shoulder.

"Well, it was all paid for, why not?" A blonde woman in a purple dress said, derisively.

"Thank you, Nerys." Donna hissed at the woman, spitting out her name as if it were a piece of food she hated.

Rhea eyed Nerys. "Oh, is that Nerys?" She gave the woman a disdainful smile. "I totally get it now, she's a bit Plastic, don't you think?" Rhea asked Donna, who grinned at her.

Sylvia approached Donna. "Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end. "I'm on Earth"? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know-" Sylvia started angrily ranting.

Rhea frowned at the woman. This was Donna's wedding day and the poor woman was being treated like a serial killer.

The whole room started talking at the same time, until all Donna could hear was the incomprehensible babble of a hundred people scolding her. The only thing left to do was to burst into tears, at which all the guests' anger melted into pity. Lance reached out and pulled her into a hug and she continued to sob into his shoulder. Everyone started applauding at the show of the happy couple and Donna turned slightly, looking Rhea and the Doctor in the eye, before winking through the onslaught of her fake tears. Rhea turned around, so no one could see her face other than the Doctor, grinning at him.

"Oh, she's _good_." Rhea said, winking at the Doctor, who smirked back, agreeing with her.

* * *

The reception continued as it did before, now with Donna included with the dancing. The Doctor and Rhea, leaning against the bar, smiling as they watched her.

Rhea frowned as she stared at Donna's mother, leaning closer to the Doctor so that she could speak to him. "Is it just me, or did no one seem that worried that Donna disappeared from the wedding?" Rhea muttered to the Doctor. "I mean, if it was my wedding, and I had disappeared right up the aisle, my mother would have called the _freaking army_ and marched across the country, looking for me. It's like they didn't even care, at least not until she started crying." Rhea commented, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Different people. They've had different lives. Your mother would act differently in a situation like that." The Doctor said, lightly.

"She's her daughter." Rhea argued, shaking her head.

"I'm going to need your phone." The Doctor said, holding his hand out, and Rhea dug into her pocket and gave it to him.

The Doctor, putting on his glasses, did a search for H C Clements on the internet. He casted a furtive look around the room before using his sonic screwdriver to hack into the website.

"Are you hacking into the website?" Rhea asked, glancing at the phone and taking a sip of her margarita.

He looked up and he gave her a sheepish look.

"Oh, you delinquent you." Rhea teased.

He frowned at the glass in her hands. "Are you sure you should be drinking?"

Rhea laughed. "Oh, honey, it'll take more than one margarita to get _me_ drunk."

He looked back down at the phone, blanching when he saw the words 'Sole Prop. TORCHWOOD' displayed on the screen. The Doctor closed the phone, hurriedly, and gave it back to Rhea, who raised an eyebrow.

"What did you find?" Rhea asked.

"I'll tell you later." The Doctor said, looking around the dance floor.

Rhea shrugged and turned her attention back to the people dancing and Donna and her beaming smile, in particular. She saw a woman in a grey dress dancing with a man in a tuxedo and she leaned back against the bar, memories rising to the surface. The man threw the woman backwards over his arm, dipping her, and she laughed as she came back and rested her head on his shoulder. Rhea swallowed hard, remembering cold, wet skin, a bow-tie and floppy hair on a Soviet submarine, when she had tripped on the slippery wet floor and fallen into her mystery man's arms. She remembered him holding her up against his body, millimetres away from his body, and staring at the droplets of water in the locks of his hair and on his face. She remembered the urge she had to run her fingers through that floppy, brown hair. She shook her head of those thoughts, turning back to the Doctor who was with her now, who was currently looking at the cameraman in the corner, who was currently recording the proceedings.

"Wonder if he caught anything unusual." Rhea said, slyly, to the Doctor.

"What would I do without you?" The Doctor asked, smiling at her.

"Crash and burn." Rhea said, seriously, before grinning at him, giving him a saucy wink.

The Doctor reached out and grasped her hand, pulling her in the direction of the cameraman and asked the man to show them the tape of the wedding.

"Hi, we were late for the ceremony and we feel absolutely horrible about it, do you mind if we take a look at the footage?" Rhea asked the cameraman, sweetly, making him blush.

"I taped the whole thing, they've all had a look. They said "sell it to You've Been Framed". I said "more like the News". Here we are..." The cameraman told them.

He played the tape and the video was zoomed on Donna's face, mouth wide open in a scream, as she disintegrated into golden dust.

The Doctor was alarmed. "Can't be! Play it again?"

"Clever, mind! Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping."

The Doctor watched the video again, brow furrowed incredulously.

"What is it?" Rhea asked him, worried after looking at his expression.

"But that looks like... Huon Particles!"

"What are huon particles?" Rhea asked the Doctor.

"They're particles of energy that hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only remnants of the energy would exist in the heart of the TARDIS." The Doctor explained, his face retaining the alarm. "It's impossible, they're…ancient! Huon energy hasn't existed for billions of years."

Rhea had a growing thought that scared the living daylights out of her. "Are they so old that a biodamper wouldn't hide it?" Rhea asked the Doctor, quietly, praying that the answer was 'no'. However, Rhea could practically read the negative in the Doctor's eyes as both of their eyes were drawn to the gold ring on Donna's finger.

"Fuck." Rhea hissed as they ran to the nearest window. And sure enough, there were the robot Santas, making their way slowly to the reception hall. They ran the other way, back to Donna.

"Donna! Donna, they've found you." Rhea said, placing a hand on Donna's arm.

"But you said I was safe." Donna said, panicking and looking between the two of them.

"The biodamper doesn't work. We've got to get everyone out." The Doctor growled out.

Donna looked around with growing horror. "Oh my god, it's all my family."

"Out the back door!" The Doctor shouted.

The trio ran out the back door, only to be confronted with two of the Santas.

"Maybe not." Rhea murmured.

They ran back inside. The Doctor darted over to another window and saw more Santas.

"We're trapped." Donna whispered.

"Yeah, I think that was their intention." Rhea said, looking at all of the windows. _Figures, the one day I forget to take my gun with me._

The Santas were holding some sort of remote control in their hands, which they raised. The Doctor looked back at the huge Christmas tree that stood in the middle of the hall.

"Christmas trees…" He murmured.

Rhea looked at him. "What about them?"

"They kill." The Doctor said, roughly.

He ran into the crowd. "Get away from the tree!" The Doctor shouted at everyone.

"Don't touch the trees!" Rhea warned the guests.

"Get away from the Christmas trees, everyone get away from them!" The Doctor shouted again.

Rhea helped Donna usher away a group of little girls from the Christmas trees.

"Out! Lance, tell them!" Donna shouted at her husband-to-be.

"Stay away from the tree!" Rhea screamed.

The Santas pressed a big red button in the middle of their remotes.

"Stay away from the tree!" The Doctor shouted for the third time.

"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna... oh!" Sylvia trailed off as she observed the baubles float away from the tree like some sort of strange dance. The Doctor and Rhea watched them mistrustfully as they hover above a few people's heads. Everyone chattered excitedly until the baubles started dive-bombing around the room and causing small explosions. Everyone started screaming and running from cover as they were attacked by the Christmas tree decorations. Donna pulled Lance down to hide under a table with her. The Doctor and Rhea raced over to the DJ's table and the Santas were lined up opposite.

"Oi! Santa! Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver..." He spoke into the microphone. "...don't let him near the sound system." He held the sonic screwdriver next to the amplifiers and it made a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound, like nails on chalkboard, forcing everyone, including Rhea, who bore the brunt of it since she was standing right next to the Doctor, to cover their ears and the Santas to vibrate violently until they fell to pieces. The Doctor pulled away his sonic screwdriver and checked over Rhea briefly until she waved him off and told him she was fine, and then ran to examine the mechanics of the Santas. Everyone began to get up off the floor.

Donna ran over to two of the children. "Michael? Connie?"

The Doctor picked up the remotes which the Santas were holding.

"Oh Senita, do something useful." Donna remarked.

"But what is it?" Sylvia asked, pointing at the Santas. "What were they?"

"Just stop wittering, just help 'em." Donna snapped.

"Look at that, remote control for the decorations," The Doctor showed Donna the hand held remotes. "But there's a second remote control for the robots." He examined the head of one of the robots. "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."

Donna shook her head. "Never mind all that, you're a both doctors, people have been hurt." She said, looking at them both, helplessly.

"Nah, they wanted you alive, look!" He threw a bauble at Donna. "They're not active now."

"All I'm saying, you could help." Donna said.

Rhea frowned at the nonchalant behaviour of the Doctor. _This isn't like him._ Rhea reached out and stopped him by gripping his hand and pulling him back. "No, Donna's right, we need to help these people, first. Then we can chase after the robots."

"Nah, gotta think of the bigger picture... there's still a signal!" The Doctor said, holding the head of the robot to his ear.

And with that, he took off and Rhea ran after him. Donna made to follow them but she was held back by her mother.

"Donna... who are they? Who is that man and woman?" Sylvia asked her daughter, worriedly.

Donna didn't have an answer for her mother. She didn't know quite herself. She followed the Doctor, leaving Sylvia and Lance staring after her.

* * *

"That was wrong." Rhea told the Doctor as he scanned the helmet with his sonic screwdriver. "Donna was worried about her friends and family. We should have made sure that they were all right. There were children in there."

"We don't have time for this, Rhea. We need to find where this signal leads or a whole lot more people than just Donna's family could get hurt." The Doctor told her, not looking her in the eye.

Rhea threw her hands up in the air, exasperated, and was about to lay into him when Donna joined them, running up to where they were standing outside.

"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force." The Doctor told both of the women.

"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked, pushing a few strands out of her face.

"If we find the controller, we'll find that out. Oh!" The Doctor raised his screwdriver into the air. "It's up there. Something in the sky." He paused. "I've lost the signal. Donna, we've got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance, is it Lance? Can you give us a lift?" The Doctor said, turning to Donna's fiancé, and darted off without waiting for an answer.

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea, Donna and Lance arrived at H C Clements. They ran into the building and then into Donna's office. The Doctor went straight to a computer.

"This might just be a locksmith, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute." The Doctor said, darkly.

"Who are they?" Donna asked, frowning.

"They were behind the Battle of Canary Wharf." The Doctor said, looking up.

Rhea tensed when she heard that. _What's Canary Wharf? Why does the Doctor sound so dark and sad at the same time? Is that where he, we, lost Rose?_

Donna's face was utterly blank.

"…Cyberman invasion." The Doctor tried.

"Wait, what? Cybermen?" Rhea asked, horrified, turning to the Doctor, remembering the amusement park and Mr. Clever.

Donna just stared at the Doctor, inquisitively.

"Skies over London full of Daleks?" The Doctor tried.

"What are Daleks?" Rhea asked, frowning.

The Doctor reached up and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "See, this is how I know it's very early for you."

"Oh, I was in Spain." Donna told the Doctor.

The Doctor paused. "They had Cybermen in Spain."

"Scuba diving." Donna explained.

Rhea had to stop herself from laughing when she saw the Doctor's face. "That big picture, Donna…you keep missing it." The Doctor said and darted over to another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business. I think... someone else came in and took over the operation." He whacked the computer.

"Is that your solution to everything? Just hit it and hope it works?" Rhea asked, folding her arms. The Doctor smiled at her, answering her with that one look.

"But, what do they want with me?" Donna asked, looking between the two.

"I'd like to know that myself." Rhea said to the Doctor.

The Doctor turned to the two women, giving them his full attention. "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened. Say... that's the TARDIS." He showed Donna a mug. "And that's you." He picked up a pencil. "The particles inside you activated." He shook the pencil. "The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" He threw the pencil into the mug. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS."

"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked, weakly.

"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." The Doctor said. He turned to Lance, who had just been standing there, quietly, the entire time. "Lance? What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"

"I don't know, I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager." Lance said, defensively.

Rhea turned to Donna. "You okay, Donna?" Rhea asked, gently, placing a hand on Donna's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Donna said, smiling weakly at the other woman.

Rhea smiled, understandingly. "Don't worry Donna, we'll figure something out, I promise." Rhea said, earnestly, squeezing the woman's shoulder. She didn't know why she liked the redhead so much. She supposed it was because she saw a lot of herself in Donna as well. Kindred spirits, and all that.

The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the screen of the computer and it instantly displayed the page he was looking for.

"Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?" Lance asked.

"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this..." The Doctor gestured to a 3D plan of the building on the screen. "…we're on the third floor."

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea, Donna and Lance waited for the elevator to come down to their floor, impatiently. Rhea had to keep her hand on the Doctor's arm to stop him from fidgeting like crazy.

"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The Doctor asked Donna and Lance.

The doors of the elevator pinged open and Rhea and the Doctor went inside, the latter looking at the controls with great observance.

"Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'?

"Lower basement, huh? Well, that doesn't sound suspicious at all." Rhea said, slyly.

The Doctor nodded at her. "There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So what's down there, then?" The Doctor mused, winking at Rhea conspiratorially.

Rhea snorted. "What is this, Dollhouse?"

"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked, incredulously, looking at the couple.

"No, we're showing you this building's got a secret floor." The Doctor said, looking at Lance.

"It needs a key." Donna pointed out.

Rhea and the Doctor smiled. "We don't." The Doctor said, using the sonic screwdriver to unlock the button that was labelled 'LB'. "Right then, thanks you two, Rhea and I can handle this, see you later." The Doctor said.

"No chance, Martians. You're the two who keep saving my life, I ain't letting you two out of my sight." Donna said, joining them in the elevator.

Rhea smirked at her. "Come on then, Red." Rhea said, winking at her, using the nickname she had used to refer to Donna during the Sontaran invasion.

"Red?" Donna asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah." Rhea looked her over, stopping at her very red hair. "It suits you." Rhea said, softly. Donna smiled at her, heartened by the nickname.

"Going down." The Doctor said, pressing the button.

"Lance?" Donna said, pointedly, facing her fiancée.

"Maybe I should go to the police." Lance said, hesitating and shaking his head.

"Inside." Donna ordered.

Lance meekly joined them in the lift.

"To honour and obey." The Doctor asked, understandingly, looking down at Rhea, who glared at him, fiercely.

"Tell me about it, mate." Lance deadpanned.

"Oi!" Donna shouted.

Rhea elbowed him in the side. "Watch it, time boy."

The door closed and the elevator descended.

* * *

The elevator pinged when it reached the lower basement and the Doctor, Rhea, Donna and Lance stepped out into a long, dark and dank corridor, dimly lit with an eerie, green light.

"Where are we? Well, what goes on down here?" Donna asked, looking around the corridor, in shock.

"Let's find out…" Rhea murmured.

"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?" Donna asked them both.

"The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it." The Doctor said, and then his eye was caught by something. "Oh, look, transport."

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea, Donna and Lance trundled down the corridor, each standing on their own segways, all looking extremely hilarious. Donna and Rhea looked at the Doctor and burst out laughing at the same time. The Doctor joined in, but Lance just stared at the trio with a confused expression, not getting it.

They came to a door which had '_Torchwood: Authorised Personnel Only'_ written across it, so naturally, they abandoned their scooters and the Doctor turned the wheel that would open the door, which revealed a ladder. The Doctor and Rhea peered upwards.

"Wait here. Just need to get my bearings. Don't..." The Doctor pointed at Donna and Lance. "…do anything."

"And don't wander off." Rhea said, warningly.

They started up the ladder, Rhea behind the Doctor.

"You two better come back." Donna told them both, anxiously.

Rhea smiled at Donna, while the Doctor paused his climbing to grin down at her. "We couldn't get rid of you if we tried."

Donna smiled at them both, and she and Lance watched the two climb up the ladder, keeping her eye on them both to make sure they wouldn't fall.

"Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?" Lance complained, looking at Donna, wondering why she wasn't more worried about their situation.

Donna wasn't really listening, just staring up the ladder at the two strangers with worry and affection. "Oh, I thought July." She said, turning to Lance briefly and smiling brightly, then turned her attention back to the Doctor and Rhea climbing the ladder.

The Doctor and Rhea reached the top of the ladder where they were faced with the underside of a manhole. The Doctor opened it and they climbed out into daylight. They stood on top of a barrier, overlooking the Thames.

They quickly went back down, both of them jumping off the last rung as it came to their turn.

"Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath." The Doctor told the soon-to-be married couple.

"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna asked, incredulously.

Rhea snorted. "Yeah, cause, that's never happened before."

They entered some sort of laboratory, full of massive test tubes, high as the ceiling and bubbling away, and chemistry equipment.

"What is Torchwood?" Rhea asked the Doctor, quietly.

"They're like UNIT, but more racist." The Doctor told her, smiling wryly at her grimace. He noticed what exactly was going on inside the test tubes.

"Oh, look at this! Stunning!" The Doctor breathed, walking around.

"What does it do?" Rhea asked the Doctor, looking at the equipment, wondering who exactly had this much power and was the public aware of it.

"Particle extrusion! Hold on…" The Doctor said, gazing at the test tubes. Rhea was reminded of how he had reacted when he had seen the inside of Luke Rattigan's genius factory. The Doctor ran over to another test tube and rapped on the glass with his knuckles. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."

"Your people?" Lance asked, sticking his head out. "Who are they? What company do you represent?"

"Oh, we're freelancers. But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result…" He pulled out a smaller flask that was full of the liquid Huon particles from the bottom of one of the test tubes. "Huon particles in liquid form."

"And that's what's inside of me?" Donna asked, nodding at the flask.

The Doctor gentle turned a knob at the top of the flask, making the liquid start to glow gold and they watched in awe as Donna's body began to react, glowing gold as well.

"Oh, my God!" Donna exclaimed, looking down at herself.

"Because the particles are inert, they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then..." The Doctor's eyes widened. "HA!"

Both Rhea and Donna jumped out of their skin at the sound of the Doctor's outburst. Rhea closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. _I hate it when he does that_. She looked back at him to see all mad enthusiasm all over again.

"The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle, oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking!" Rhea watched Donna's face, smirking, knowing that Donna was about to blow anytime soon. "Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"

Donna reached out and slapped him across the face for the second time that day.

"What did I do this time?" The Doctor asked, confused and indignant.

Rhea rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "Are you enjoying this?" Donna asked, her hands on her hips.

The Doctor looked ashamed and sheepish, relaxing. Donna paused for a moment then walked towards him, breathing heavily due to her distress.

"Right, just tell me, these particles, are they dangerous? Am I safe?" Donna asked the Doctor, frightened.

"Yes!" The Doctor answered, unconvincingly.

Donna could see right through his façade. "Doctor... if your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"

The Doctor pursed his lips, knowing that he would have to tell the truth this time. "Because they were deadly."

"Oh my god." Donna breathed, looking down. Rhea hesitated for a moment and walked over to the terrified woman in white and wrapped an arm around the woman's waist, trying to comfort her the best way she could. She squeezed the woman tight, rubbing her back, feeling Donna lean into her embrace just slightly.

"We'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, we'll reverse it. We're not about to lose someone else." The Doctor leaned in and said, solemnly.

However, they were distracted by crashes and bangs that seemed to come from all around them.

"Oh, she is long since lost." A loud, hoarse, feminine voice called out.

One of the walls slid upwards to reveal a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the ground.

"I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe..." The voice continued.

The three of them didn't see Lance, eyes widened in horror, hurriedly retreat through the door.

"... until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!" The voice finished.

The walls of the chamber were lined with the armed robots, who were wearing black hoods to conceal their faces. The robots turned to face the trio, aiming their guns at them.

The Doctor and Rhea moved to the edge of the hole, peering down. "Someone's been digging... oh, that's very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?" The Doctor asked the voice.

"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" The voice replied.

"Really?" The Doctor asked, incredulously. "Seriously, what for?"

Donna shuffled forwards, so that she was standing next to the Doctor and Rhea. "Dinosaurs." Donna offered.

"What?" The Doctor and Rhea turned to look at her, confused.

"Dinosaurs?" Donna tried again.

"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" The Doctor asked.

"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs." Donna paused. "Trying to help!"

"That's not helping." The Doctor said.

"Hey! Don't be rude!" Rhea told the Doctor. She turned to Donna. "Sorry, Donna, no dinosaurs down there." Rhea said, looking down the hole, anxiously. The voice wanted whatever was down there for a reason, and a part of her didn't want to know what for.

"Such a clever trio." The voice hissed.

The Doctor spun around to face the direction from which the voice was coming from. "Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" The Doctor asked, angrily, tensing slightly.

"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night."

"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!" The Doctor shouted.

"Who are you with such command?" The voice asked, angrily.

"I'm the Doctor." He growled.

"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart." The voice hissed.

There was a flash of light on a platform above them and a massive red spider with a feminine face and many eyes appeared. Rhea recoiled back pulling Donna as well, both women staring at the giant spider, with an upper body of a woman, with blunt shock, but the Doctor stood still, shock and recognition etched on his face.

"The Racnoss... but that's impossible, you're one of the Racnoss!" The Doctor said, stunned.

"Empress of the Racnoss." The Empress corrected.

"Heinous bitch suits you better, I think." Rhea muttered under her breath.

"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss? Or..." The Doctor paused. "Are you the only one?"

"Such a sharp mind." The Empress hissed.

The Doctor nodded. "That's it, the last of your kind." He turned to Rhea and Donna, who were still a bit shocked by the sight before them. "The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions. They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets." The Doctor explained.

"Racnoss are born starving, is that our fault?" The Empress asked, angrily.

Rhea took a step forward, irritation thrumming inside of her. "Hey! Don't try and reason mass murder. There isn't a defence that exists that would work." Rhea shouted at the Empress.

"They eat people?" Donna asked, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor paused. "H C Clements, did he wear those, those erm, black and white shoes?" He asked Donna.

Rhea looked with horror at the web on the ceiling, seeing a figure wrapped in the slimy string with shoes sticking out, shoes that matched the description that the Doctor had just uttered.

"He did! We used to laugh, we used to call him the fat cat in spats." Donna said.

The Doctor nodded and pointed to where Rhea's gaze was concentrated on. A pair of black and white shoes still attached to the unfortunate H C Clements could just be seen poking out.

"Oh my god!" Donna exclaimed.

"Mmm, my Christmas dinner." The Empress said and cackled.

"You shouldn't even exist! Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss, they were wiped out." The Doctor said, shaking his head.

Lance appeared on a balcony above the Empress', unbeknownst to her. Donna and Rhea spotted him, the latter frowning in suspicion, and Lance motioned for Donna to stay silent.

"Except for me." The Empress replied to the Doctor's statement.

"But that's what I've got inside me, that Huon energy thing. Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking." Donna shouted at the Racnoss Empress in a bid to distract her. "Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?"

Lance descended the stairs, an axe at the ready.

"Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me." Donna shouted.

"The bride is so feisty!" The Empress hissed.

"Yes, I am! And I don't know what you are, you big..." Donna struggled to find the right word. "Thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe! Now, do it!" She shouted at Lance.

Lance swung the axe. The Empress swung around and hissed at the last moment. Then Lance stopped. He glanced around at Donna and started to laugh and the Empress laughed with him. Rhea closed her eyes, realising that her suspicions were the truth.

"That was a good one. Your face!" Lance said to the Empress, laughing.

"Lance is funny." The Empress said, hoarsely.

"What?" Donna asked, her face a picture of confusion.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, quietly, Rhea having come to the same conclusion as the Doctor had.

"So sorry, Donna." Rhea said, breathing out heavily.

"Sorry for what? Lance, don't be so stupid! Get her!" Donna shouted.

Lance just stared at the bride, pityingly. "God, she's thick."

Donna looked right back at him, she was so confused.

"Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map." Lance said, scathingly.

"I don't understand." Donna said, still uncomprehending.

"How did you meet Lance, Donna?" Rhea asked her, gently.

"In the office." Donna answered.

"He made you coffee." The Doctor said, softly.

"What?" Donna looked between the two of them, still trying to come to terms with it all.

"Every day, I made you coffee." Lance said, slowly, as if he were addressing an idiot.

Rhea let out a loud growl, her eyes were wrathful and she took a step forward and her hands shook at her side, itching to rise, as if she were about to snap his neck at that very moment. _I'm going to rip his fucking head off._

"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months." The Doctor explained.

Donna understood. "He was poisoning me." She said, quietly.

The Doctor turned to the Racnoss Empress and Lance, furious as well. "It was all there in the job title, the Head of Human Resources."

"This time, it's personnel." Lance said and he and the Racnoss laughed.

"Oh god, he didn't…did he?" Rhea moaned out. She turned back to the Doctor with an incredulous look. "Tell me he didn't." She turned back to Lance. "You didn't just use one of the most overused movie quotes of all time and then _pun_ it." Rhea shook her head. "That's a whole new level of pathetic."

"But…we were getting married." Donna whispered.

"Well, I couldn't risk you running off. I had to say yes." His voice started to raise. "And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle." Lance rolled his eyes in an expression of exasperation. "Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap, "oh, Brad and Angelina, is Posh pregnant?" X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shui, split ends, text me, text me, text me, dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia." Lance's tone was scornful by the end of his tirade.

Rhea watched as Donna listened to Lance's torrent of abuse with an expression of increasing hurt and confusion. Rhea reached over and gripped the woman's hand in her own, offering her some comfort.

_Who's going to love you now? You'll never be good enough._ Rhea closed her eyes, willing those words away.

"I deserve a medal." Lance said, panting slightly.

"Oh, is that what she's offered you? The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?" The Doctor asked, incredulously.

"It's better than a night with her." Lance said, looking pointedly at Donna.

"But I love you." Donna murmured, stricken by the turn of events.

Rhea snorted. "Oh yeah, because you're such a prize catch." Her tone turned icy. "You _stupid, stupid_ son of a bitch." She took a step forward. "What do you think is going to happen now? Are you going to become King of the Racnoss?" Rhea asked, mockingly, then thought of something. "Did you seriously fuck a spider? Really? I mean, how could you possibly compare _her_ and Donna?" Rhea asked, her voice harsh and her face wrathful. "Donna's beautiful, funny, loud, caring, maybe a bit bossy, temperamental and slightly dense, but she's got a good heart and she cares for people. Who the hell are you to say that you deserve better? From what I can see, Donna was the one slumming it. You were lucky that she wanted to marry you, dumbass."

The Doctor walked forwards and wrapped one of his arms around the angry woman's waist, pulling her back. She turned on him, angrily, but he looked at her, silently asking her to calm down.

"Leave it alone for now, Rhea. You said what you needed to say." The Doctor murmured in her ear and relaxed when he felt her tense form loosen up, feeling extremely proud and in awe of the strong woman in his arms.

Lance just seemed to ignore Rhea's diatribe and accusations. "That's what made it easy." Lance said, maliciously, answering Donna's grief-stricken words. He turned to the Doctor. "It's like you said, Doctor, the big picture, what's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"

"Who is this little physician and his woman?" The Empress cut in.

"What she said, Martian." Lance told her.

"Oh, we're sort of…homeless. But the point is, what's down here?" He asked, pointing down at the hole in the Earth. "The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"

"I think he wants us to talk." Lance said, condescendingly.

"I think so too." The Empress hissed.

"Well, tough! All we need is Donna!" Lance said, triumphantly.

"Kill this chattering little doctor-man and his mate!" The Empress screeched.

Donna moved so that she was standing in front of the Doctor and Rhea, hooking her arms in theirs. "Don't you hurt 'em!" Donna shouted, feeling fiercely protective over the couple who had saved her life more than once today, especially over the woman who had spoken so confidently and passionately to Lance in Donna's defence.

"It's okay, Donna." Rhea said, soothingly.

"It's all right." The Doctor told Donna.

"No, I won't let 'em." Donna said, frightened but determined.

"At arms!" The Empress called out.

The robots reared back and pointed their guns at the Doctor and Rhea.

"Ah, now. Except." The Doctor tried to stall the Empress.

"Take aim!" The Empress ordered.

"Well, I just want to point out the obvious—" The Doctor started.

"They won't hit the bride. They're such very good shots." The Empress cut in, smirking.

"Just, just, just, hold on, just a tick, just a tiny, just a little, tick. If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it..." He pulled out the tiny test tube that held the liquid Huon energy and twisted the knob at the top, causing both the particles in the tube and in Donna to glow. "The spaceship comes to her."

"Fire!" The Empress screeched.

The robots fired their guns, but it was too late, the TARDIS had already materialised around them and the Doctor, Rhea and Donna were safe from the assault inside.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter. And Rhea is definitely attracted to the Eleventh and the Tenth Doctors, she's fantasised (a bit) about both of them in this chapter. And the Doctor's getting a bit upset at Rhea not knowing what happened to Rose, I think it's getting to him, the whole out-of-order thing. There were a few sweet moments between the two in this chapter. I debated whether having them dance at the reception, but I went against it, thought it would be better to have Rhea have a flashback instead of the Doctor. However, it begs the question of what happened on New Earth. Was it Rose that got possessed by Cassandra? And Rhea and Donna, I think they're going to be very good friends, like sisters eventually. Rhea sees a lot of herself in Donna, in a lot of ways, that's why she got so angry and protective with Lance and was so vehement in her vitriol. There will be a lot of comforting and advice in the next chapter between the two women, Rhea understands how Donna's feeling. I wonder what those words that Rhea remembered were all about. Who could have said that to her? And will Donna be able to stop the Doctor when he floods the chamber in the next chapter? And what role will Rhea play?

And I want to ask my readers a question, I brought up Rose and River before in a previous chapter, before I actually posted an episode with Rose in it. Most people said they didn't like Rose very much, and some said they didn't like River much either, I want to know what your reasons are exactly. Some people hate her because she's a "chav" and working class, but I wanted to know some really good reasons to dislike Rose.

Anyway, Read and Review!


	17. The Runaway Bride: Drowning

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, River would never have died in the Library.

A/N: And here's the final chapter for The Runaway Bride! That's two Christmas specials finished! And this one showed the start of Donna and Rhea's relationship, at least for Donna. This chapter should be interesting, it has a few snippets into Rhea's past, bonding between Donna and Rhea and some fluffy moments between the Doctor and Rhea. Hope you enjoy!

Notes on Reviews:

Mionerocks: Welcome to the story and I do hope you review more, I love "talking" to my readers! I'm glad you like the story so far! I agree with you about Rose, I used to love her at the beginning but when I started rewatching Season 1 and 2, I started to point out her flaws. Season 4 does give me a bit of chill, though, the Doctor did tell her the universes would start collapsing, but she started building the dimension cannon BEFORE the stars were falling out. People keep denying that but Rose said that "it started to work" which means they had to be trying it out before that. She never gave Donna the full story in 'Turn Left', she was always very closed off about alternate!Donna's fate and I thought that was really unfair. I have a feeling that being trapped in the parallel universe did worse to Rose's character rather than better. I do have a problem in School Reunion as well, most people keep saying that Sarah Jane started it, but Rose was the one that asked "Who's she?" is a very defensive and rude tone when the two crashed into each other. And don't worry, I love long reviews, it gives me something to talk about!

Nami: Her treatment of Jackie and Mickey was one of my problems with her at the beginning, I understand her not knowing that she wouldn't be back for a year, that wasn't her fault, it was the Doctor's, but to keep running off with him after she knew how much her disappearance had hurt her mother, especially at the end of _World War Three_, how was she to know that the Doctor wouldn't get the date wrong again? I also thought it was entirely irresponsible for her to run off with the Doctor in the first place, she didn't really know him in _Rose_ (to be honest, I have a problem with Martha and Amy for that reason as well). I actually had a conversation with my mother after we watched _Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel_, I asked would she think of me from an alternate universe as her daughter and she said no. I was a little hurt, but my mother explained to me that the alternate!me would be someone else's daughter, that someone else might look my mother but she would be a different person. Pete from Pete's World had a different life to Rose's father, he had twenty something years without Rose and a different Jackie, he's a completely different person to her father. I don't blame Rose for wanting Pete to think of her as his daughter but I thought it was wishful thinking on her behalf. She did flirt with Adam and Jack in season 1, and the psychic paper told Jack that she considered herself to be 'available', yet she got so angry when she thought Mickey was seeing someone else. I think her jealousy is shown in Season 2 a lot more, she was jealous of Sarah Jane, Reinette (though, Reinette was a bit of a snob to her), Lucy from Pete's World and Martha in _The Stolen Earth_. I'm not actually sure about being in love with the adventure that the Doctor gave her, a part of me feels like she definitely thought she was in love with him, but she never would have fallen in love with him without the adventure.

Beulah2013: I'm glad you liked the way I had Rhea's confrontation with Lance in the chapter. She was incredibly tempted to actually hit Lance but the Doctor stopped her. I think it was because it wasn't the right time to get into a fight. She will be meeting Jack…and soon, I promise! _Army of Ghosts/Doomsday_ is going to be hard one, Rhea will know the Cybermen because she's met them in _Nightmare in Silver_, but I don't plan on doing that finale for awhile. That episode will be hard, because Rhea pretty much knows that something's going to happen to Rose at Canary Wharf, will she tell the Doctor that? As for the Daleks, see the problem is I keep changing the order I want to do the episodes in, so I can't really tell you anything about Rhea's interactions with the Daleks yet.

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo.

_Italics_ – Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Runaway Bride: Drowning

"_Just, just, just, hold on, just a tick, just a tiny, just a little, tick. If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So, reverse it..." He pulled out the tiny test tube that held the liquid Huon energy and twisted the knob at the top, causing both the particles in the tube and in Donna to glow. "The spaceship comes to her." _

"_Fire!" The Empress screeched._

_The robots fired their guns, but it was too late, the TARDIS had already materialised around them and the Doctor, Rhea and Donna were safe from the assault inside._

"Off we go!" The Doctor shouted, darting off to the console, yanking down a lever.

"My key! My key!" They heard the Empress screech from outside, incensed.

The TARDIS dematerialised, impervious to the bullets hitting it, leaving the Empress of the Racnoss alone with Lance.

"Oh, you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it." The Doctor told Donna as he raced around the console, pressing random buttons and yanking down random levers.

Rhea led Donna over to the captain's chair, making her sit down.

"We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just _brilliant_. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this. Rhea, Donna, we're going further back than I've ever been before."

"Doctor." Rhea hissed at the Doctor, drawing his attention.

The Doctor paused, looking around the console at the two women, only then noticing that Donna's shoulders were shuddering with the silent tears that poured down her face. He looked at Rhea, helplessly, not sure what to do with a crying woman. It wasn't like he had much experience with it, Rhea wasn't really much of a crier and she was really the only woman he had the most experience with. Rhea sent him a look, silently telling him that she'd deal with Donna.

Rhea reached over and wrapped an arm around the sobbing woman. Donna rested her head into Rhea's shoulder, weeping uncontrollably. Rhea just rubbed her back as the woman let out all the pain and heartbreak, not caring whether her skin got wet.

"It's okay, Donna." Rhea said, quietly.

"No." Donna shook her head. "No, it's not. I don't understand why he…"

"It's because men suck." Rhea said, bluntly.

"Oi!" The Doctor exclaimed from across the console, listening into their conversation.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean _you_. You're an exception." Rhea said, smiling when she saw her pleased look, and terror rose in her as she realised how true that statement was. She looked back over at Donna, who had started crying all over again.

"Okay, that's all you get." Rhea pushed Donna away and looked her in the eye. "I'm not going to let you feel sorry for yourself, got that?"

"But-" Donna began to protest.

"No, Donna." Rhea refused to allow Donna to wallow. It wouldn't do her any good, all it would do was allow Donna to start believing all the crap that Lance had said. "I know how you feel, Donna." Rhea murmured.

"You've had your heart ripped out of your chest and shredded right in front of you by the man you love?" Donna asked, sarcastically.

"Yes." Rhea smiled, wryly. "Many, _many_ times, actually." Rhea, not noticing the sad look the Doctor gave her at those words, frowned for a moment, lost in her memories, then she recovered. "But, Donna, you gotta know, _everything_ he said was a lie."

"He-" Donna started to protest again.

"Donna, you should be with someone who loves you for exactly what you are." Rhea said, softly and earnestly. "And Lance wasn't that. I meant everything I said in that chamber, Donna. You are an amazing woman." Rhea said, taking a hold of Donna's hands and thinking about the strong woman who had knocked out a Sontaran with a mallet.

Donna shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Rhea objected. "And I'm sure you were slumming it. I bet you though you couldn't do better, right?" Donna hesitated and gave a slow nod. "Yeah, see, we accept the love we think we deserve. But…sometimes…we're not the right person to judge what we deserve." Rhea smiled wryly. "I bet your mother pressured you, too, right? Helped you come to that conclusion as well." Donna nodded again. "For me, it was my cousin." Rhea told her. "No matter what you are, good, evil, ugly, pretty, handsome, crazy, loud, beautiful," Rhea winked at Donna, who gave her a watery smile. "Whatever you are, the right person is going to think that you're the greatest thing since sliced bread for all of those reasons." Rhea's smile fell, but her eyes remained honest and sincere. "_That's_ the person who's worth falling in love with."

The tears still dripped down Donna's face. Rhea smiled, softly, and enveloped the woman in one of her very rare hugs.

* * *

The TARDIS, having arrived at her destination, clicked quietly as it cooled down. The Doctor peered around the console at Rhea and the miserable Donna, who still had her head resting on Rhea's shoulder, sitting on the jump seat together.

"We've arrived... want to see?" The Doctor asked, encouragingly.

Rhea nodded and stood up, walking over to the Doctor, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" The Doctor whispered into Rhea's ear.

Rhea smirked up at him. "You could say it more often, I think."

"Why not?" Donna muttered, just a little unenthusiastically, standing up as well and brushing off imaginary dust off her wedding dress. She was still upset at the fact that the man she had planned to spend the rest of her life with had actually been poisoning her ever since he had met her, said man might actually have cheated on her with a big red spider and had ripped through her with a whole lot of insults, but after speaking with Rhea and the good cry on her shoulder had definitely helped. She couldn't help but think of what she could have been like if Rhea hadn't defended her and given her that advice. She resolved to take Rhea's advice to heart as much as she possibly could, just to thank the woman who had given her self-confidence back.

"I think the scanner's too small." Rhea told the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Maybe Donna's way's best." He and Rhea went over to the door and waited for Donna to join them. "Come on."

Donna walked over resignedly.

"No human's ever seen this. You'll be the first." The Doctor told the redhead.

"What is it?" Donna asked, looking between the two and gripping Rhea's hand tightly.

"Rhea Adwani, Donna Noble, welcome to the creation of the Earth." The Doctor threw open the doors onto a spectacular sight. Rhea's and Donna's mouths fell open. The sun shined through beautiful coloured dust and gas clouds, enormous rocks floating around the space.

"It's _gorgeous!_" Rhea whispered, in a breathy voice.

"We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet." The Doctor explained, leaning against the doorframe. "Only dust and rocks and gas." He pointed in the direction of the glow. "That's the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."

Rhea just stared at the millions of little rocks that would one day form into the _Earth_ of all planets, unable to even process the though properly.

Donna looked around. "Where's the Earth?"

"All around us…in the dust." The Doctor explained.

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just... tiny." Donna whispered, in awe of the sight before her.

"No, but that's what you do." The Doctor protested. "The human race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed."

"So, I came out of all of this?" Donna asked, turning to the Doctor and the back at the sight before her, all stunning and impossible.

"Isn't that brilliant?" The Doctor asked, a smile forming on his face.

A massive slab of rock floated past the open doors of the TARDIS.

"I think that's the Isle of Wight." Donna joked, her voice still hoarse, and all three of them laughed.

"Eventually, gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the..." He couldn't even continue.

"The Earth." Rhea breathed, finishing the sentence and leaning back against him, allowing him to wrap an arm around her waist.

"But the question is... what was that first rock?"

There was a sound and a spiky, star-shaped rock emerged through the clouds of gas and smoke.

"Look." Donna said, pointing at that specific rock.

"The Racnoss…" The Doctor whispered.

The Doctor rushed back to the console and turned a wheel, frantically.

"Hold on…the Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?" The Doctor asked, shouting at Donna and Rhea.

The rocks, the particles of dust and gas, everything around them, they were all zooming towards the Racnoss as if pulled by a powerful magnetic force.

"Exactly what you said. They're all coming together." Rhea called out.

The Doctor ran back to the doors to lock them. "Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth... they became the centre of the Earth." The Doctor growled.

Rhea's eyes dawned with realisation. "Their ship became the first rock." Rhea said, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.

The TARDIS suddenly shuddered violently and they were nearly knocking the Doctor off his feet and the women as well, if Rhea and Donna had not grabbed the railings at their sides.

"What was that?" Rhea asked.

"Trouble." The Doctor said, grimly, and slammed the doors shut.

The three of them struggled to keep their balance as the TARDIS shuddered and tipped sideways.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna yelled over the noise.

"The TARDIS is a 'she'!" Rhea corrected. She looked at the Doctor. "What did you do?" Rhea shrieked.

"Why do you assume it was me?" The Doctor shouted back.

"Because it's always you!" Rhea argued, as she was almost thrown against the doors. "You're like a nine-year-old taking the car out for a joyride!"

The Doctor ignored Rhea. "Remember that little trick I pulled…particles pulling particles? It works in reverse…they're pulling us back!" He turned to Rhea, with a smug look on his face. "See, this time, it wasn't me."

"Key words, honey, _this time_." Rhea pointed out.

She stumbled up to the controls, trying to help the Doctor, who was desperately trying to pilot the TARDIS, but it was beyond their control as they whirled through the vortex back to the destination they were trying to avoid.

"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?"

"Backseat driver." The Doctor muttered to Rhea. "Oh! Wait a minute!" He pulled out the extrapolator from underneath the console. "The extrapolator! Can't stop us, but it should give us a good bump!"

The TARDIS materialised in the chamber with the Empress of the Racnoss.

"Now!" The Doctor shouted as he whacked the extrapolator with a mallet, despite Rhea's protests.

The TARDIS disappeared and reappeared back in the dingy corridor. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna emerged from the spaceship.

"We're about 200 yards to the right. Come on!" The Doctor shouted, leading Rhea and Donna down the corridor in a run.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna arrived at the doorway leading up to the Thames Flood barrier.

"But what do we do?" Donna asked them, out of breath and scared. She didn't relish the idea of the Empress getting her claws on her.

"I don't know! I make it up as I go along!" The Doctor said, listening to whatever was behind the door with a stethoscope. He paused and looked back at Donna. "But trust me, I've got a history."

"Trust me, you actually don't want to know the history." Rhea told Donna. However, despite her sarcasm, Rhea did trust the Doctor, which was a scary thing, considering the fact that she had only known him for a week or two.

"But I still don't understand. I'm full of particles…but what for?" Donna asked, looking between the two.

"There's a Racnoss web at the centre of the Earth, but my people unraveled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist but the Racnoss are stuck." The Doctor explained.

A robot grabbed Donna from behind, covering her mouth so that she couldn't scream and dragged her away. Rhea looked back behind her to find Donna missing and then back at the Doctor, rolling her eyes at his obliviousness, deciding to follow the robot back to the chamber where it had most likely taken Donna.

"They've just been in hibernation for billions of years. Frozen. Dead. Kaput! So you're the new key. Brand new particles, living particles! They need you to open it and the two of you have never been so quiet." The Doctor finished, looking behind him and noticing that the two of them were gone. _So, either both of them were taken by the robots or Donna was taken and Rhea went to go and find her. Brilliant, just brilliant._ The Doctor groaned and looked up and down the empty corridor, hoping to find some sign of which way either woman had gone. He opened the door with his sonic screwdriver, only to be confronted with one of the armed robots.

* * *

_This is so not cool._ Rhea thought as the strands of the web on the ceiling tightened around her limbs and torso. She was in the middle of Lance and Donna, while the Empress of the Racnoss stared up at them with a triumphant smile on a red, scaly face. She was ashamed to say that her worry for Donna and her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had neglected to make sure no one was behind her, allowing one of the robots to trap her arms by her side, so that she couldn't fight back. _See if I ever care about anyone else ever again. _She grumbled in her head.

"I hate you." Donna hissed at Lance, anger etched in every single word.

"You tell him, Red." Rhea encouraged, glaring at the man herself.

"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart." Lance said, mockingly, hating the situation he was currently in. It was supposed to be Donna, and Donna only. Not him.

"My golden couple. Together at last…your awful wedded life. Tell me, do you want to be released?" The Empress hissed.

"Yes!" Donna, Lance and Rhea shouted at the top of their lungs.

"You're supposed to say "I do"." The Empress reminded them, completely ignoring Rhea, who growled.

"Ha. No chance." Lance snorted.

"Say it!" The Empress ordered.

Lance looked at Donna. "I do." Lance said, reluctantly.

"I do." Donna repeated, grimacing as she did so. The hurt at Lance's betrayal was there, not as much as she had when she first found out he was poisoning her, especially after her talk with Rhea, but it was still there. She had forced herself to fall in love with him, it was bound to hurt.

"I don't." The Empress said, cackling.

"Really, wow! I wasn't expecting that at all." Rhea said, sarcastically, struggling in the web just in case she could get out.

"Activate the particles. Purge every last one!" The Empress ordered.

"Crap." Rhea hissed, worried about what the particles were going to be used for.

Donna and Lance began to glow gold.

"And release!" The Empress shouted.

It looked as if the particles were dripping out of Donna and Lance and down into the hole in the ground.

"The secret heart unlocks. And they will awaken from their sleep of Ages." The Empress snarled.

Rhea's eyes widened as she realised what the Empress was using the Huon particles for. She would use the particles to revive the rest of species that were stuck in the centre of the Earth.

"Who will?" Donna shouted, becoming scared. "What's down there?"

"How thick are you?" Lance scoffed.

"If I hear one more word out of you…" Rhea let the threat hang. She turned to Donna. "The Empress' children are down there, Donna, that's why she needed the Huon particles."

"My children, the long lost Racnoss." The Empress agreed. "Now will be born to feast on flesh!"

They could hear the chirping of the spiders and the pattering of feet from down in the cavern. _Oh wonderful, it's a remake of The Great Spider Invasion._

"The web-star shall come to me." The Empress said. "My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."

Lance's eyes widened in horror. "Use them! Not me! Use them!" He begged.

"Oh, my funny little Lance!" The Empress cackled. "But you are quite impolite to your lady-friends. The Empress does not approve."

The webbing that trapped Lance loosened and gave away and he tumbled down the hole, screaming.

"Lance!" Donna shouted, still feeling a shred of pain for the man she had convinced herself that she was in love with.

"Harvest the humans! Reduce them to meat." The Empress ordered.

Rhea looked around and saw a lone robot ascending the stairs that ran up the side of the chamber. She looked suspiciously at the robot. _That better be you, matchstick man._

"My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them!" The Empress hissed and turned in the same direction that Rhea was currently facing. "So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor-man."

The Doctor removed the mask and the cloak. "Oh well. Nice try. You okay, Rhea?" The Doctor asked, not taking his eyes off the Empress.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just hanging." Rhea joked, weakly.

"I'm going to get you out of the web. I've got you, Rhea!" He aimed the sonic screwdriver up at her and the web loosened.

"Are you freaking kidding me? I'll fall!" Rhea shrieked at him.

"You're gonna swing!" The Doctor told her.

Rhea reached up and grabbed one of the strands of the web, holding onto it for dear life, and she swung straight over the hole and towards the Doctor.

"I've got ya!" The Doctor reassured, his arms outstretched.

And sure enough, she swung straight into his arms, which came around her body tightly as she stumbled on her dismount. She latched onto him, resting her head on his chest, as he steadied her, still keeping an arm around her waist.

"There we go." The Doctor murmured, into her ear, sending little shivers down her spine. "All right?"

"Yeah." Rhea whispered, not really willing to move from her very nice position but knowing that Donna needed their help. She turned around in his embrace, her back pressed against his chest, facing Donna, who was still stuck in the web.

The Doctor reached up and pointed the screwdriver at the web surrounding Donna all over again.

"We'll catch you, I promise!" Rhea shouted and Donna's web loosened.

Donna swung right over the hole on one of the strands of web and towards the Doctor. Donna screamed and swung right underneath the Doctor and smashed into the wall with a dull bang. Rhea winced and the Empress smirked.

"Donna, you okay?" Rhea shouted over the railing.

"…oh. Sorry." The Doctor managed to say.

Rhea saw that Donna was sprawled on her back below them.

"Thanks for nothing." Donna growled.

"The doctor-man and his mate amuse me." The Empress cackled.

Rhea ignored the 'mate' comment.

"Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now." The Doctor offered, lowly.

"These men are so funny." The Empress hissed.

The Doctor raised his head, looking the Empress right in the eye. "What's your answer?"

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to decline." The Empress laughed.

The Doctor sighed. "What happens next is your own doing."

The Empress bristled with anger. "I'll show you what happens next." She hissed. "At arms!" She ordered and the robots raised their guns.

"Take aim!"

The robots aimed their guns at the Doctor and Rhea.

"And-"

"Relax." The Doctor finished, quietly, but still a command. Rhea looked up at him in shock when she saw that the robots went limp.

"What did you do?" Donna asked, voicing Rhea's question.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" The Doctor asked, looking down at the redhead. He produced the remote control from one of the pockets in his suit jacket. "Pockets."

Donna's eyebrows furrowed. "How did that fit in there?"

The Doctor looked smug. "They're bigger on the inside."

"Robo-forms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh." The Empress hissed.

"Oh, but I'm not from Mars." The Doctor said.

"Then where?"

"My home planet is far away and long-since gone." Rhea reached behind her and gripped the Doctor's hand. "But it's name lives on." The Doctor paused. "Gallifrey."

The Empress hissed louder than usual, suddenly full of anger. "They murdered the Racnoss!" She screeched.

"I warned you." The Doctor reminded the Empress. "You did this."

He pulled out a handful of the baubles.

"No! No! Don't! No!" The Empress screamed, panicking as she realised what he was about to do.

The Doctor threw several of the Christmas baubles into the air. A few of them surrounded the Empress and some of them smashed into the walls of the corridor, breaking the Flood barrier by destroying them and allowing the water from the Thames rush through the chamber in torrents. Another bauble exploded, causing a fire at the Empress' feet. She wailed in horror and pain as water flooded the chamber and rushed down the hole.

"My children!" The Empress screamed, grief-stricken.

The Doctor just stood there, watching in silence, his face hard and cold, surrounded by fire as water poured down from everywhere, drenching their hair and clothes, while the river swirled the hole as if it were a plughole.

"No! My children! My children!" The Empress shouted, hysterically and in torturous pain as she was consumed by flame.

"Doctor! You can stop now!" Donna shouted at the Doctor from her position below them.

Rhea looked up at the Doctor's face. He couldn't stop and she paused, a part of her not really wanting to stop him either. Both of them watched the Racnoss writhe and wail in agony, the Doctor with dark eyes, full of some secret pain and then-

Rhea swallowed hard and cupped his face in her hand and turned him to face her. "Please stop." She murmured.

He looked down immediately and swallowed hard himself, nodding once and resting his cheek briefly on her damp hair. He looked down at Donna, tightening his hold around Rhea.

"Come on! Time I got you out!" The Doctor shouted.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna ran up the stairs, soaking wet.

"Transport me!" They heard the Empress screech.

Donna, Rhea and the Doctor climbed the ladder up to the top of the flood barrier.

"But what about the Empress?" Donna asked the Doctor and Rhea, looking down.

"She's used up all her Huon energy, she's defenceless!" The Doctor told her.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna reached the top of the ladder and they clambered out into the night, the three of them whooping and cheering in delight, their arms wrapped around each other, as they realised that the Racnoss had been vanquished.

"Just... there's one problem." Donna managed to say, after she had caught her breath.

"What's that?" Rhea asked, looking at her.

"We've drained the Thames."

Rhea looked down and sure enough, the Thames was completely emptied of water. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna collapsed into laughter once more.

* * *

The TARDIS materialised across the road from Donna's house and she, Rhea and the Doctor stepped outside.

"There we go. Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything." The Doctor said, patting the TARDIS fondly.

"More than I've done." Donna remarked.

The Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver over Donna, scanning her one last time just to be sure. "Nope! All the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine." The Doctor said, with a smile.

"Yeah, but apart from that... I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day." She looked thoughtful. "Sort of."

The Doctor paused. "I couldn't save him." The Doctor said, regretfully.

"He deserved it." Donna said, unfeelingly.

Rhea and the Doctor raised an eyebrow and Donna's face softened in response.

"No, he didn't." Donna whispered. She looked around at the house. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have." The Doctor said.

They watched as Sylvia and Geoff embraced each other through the window, comforting each other.

"Oh, no, I forgot, you hate Christmas." The Doctor remembered, saying that just a bit teasingly.

"Yes, I do." Donna said, not sure anymore.

"Even if it snows?" The Doctor asked, smiling to himself. He tweaked a hidden switch on the side of the TARDIS and a ball of light shot up from the light bulb on the top and exploded in the sky, like a firework, into softly falling snow. Donna laughed with delight, clapping her hands, while Rhea just stared at the snowflakes that had fallen onto her hands with awe.

"Oh, that's just _lovely_." Rhea breathed, her face radiant.

"I can't believe you just did that!" Donna crowed.

"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation." The Doctor said, casually, grinning at her.

"Merry Christmas." Donna said to them both.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Rhea asked, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Not getting married for starters. And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something." Donna murmured.

"Well, you could always…" The Doctor began.

"What?" Donna asked, frowning.

"Come with us." Rhea said, smiling tentatively at Donna.

Donna smiled back. "No." She answered.

"Okay." The Doctor said, quickly, as if he were trying to escape embarrassment.

"I can't…" Donna tried to explain.

"No, that's fine." The Doctor waved off with false indifference.

"No, but really... everything we did today... do you two really live your life like that?" Donna asked, overwhelmed by the events of her day.

"…not all the time." The Doctor said, unconvincingly.

"Hardly ever." Rhea lied.

Donna saw through the ruse. "I think you do. And I couldn't."

"But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful." Rhea said, trying to convince Donna to come along with them.

"And it's terrible. That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you both just stood there like... I don't know... strangers. And then you made it snow, I mean, you scare me to death!" Donna said, with a laugh.

There was a short silence. "Well, then." The Doctor said.

"Tell you what I will do though, Christmas dinner. Oh, come on." Donna said, gesturing behind her to her house.

The Doctor shook his head. "We don't do that sort of thing."

"You did it last year, you said so. And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty." Donna commented.

The Doctor ooh-ed and ahh-ed in his reluctance, but then grudgingly agreed. "Oh, all right then. But you go first, better warn them. And... don't say I'm a Martian." He pointed back to the TARDIS. "I just have to park her properly, she might drift off to the Middle Ages. I'll see you in a minute."

Rhea looked back over to him and realised that they weren't actually coming back. She hesitated for a moment before wrapping Donna in another hug. "Don't you ever let anyone tell you who you are or make you feel less than they are. They're not worth it." Donna clutched onto her, nodding into her shoulder.

When they pulled back from each other, Donna looked at Rhea with a frown. "Why are you telling me this now?"

Rhea gave a sad smile to Donna and disappeared into the TARDIS along with the Doctor. When it began to dematerialise, Donna realised that she was never going to see the two again.

"Doctor! Rhea! Doctor! Rhea!" She shouted.

The whirring of the time machine stopped and the Doctor popped his head outside the door.

"Blimey, you can shout." The Doctor said.

"Am I ever gonna see you again?" Donna asked in a whisper.

The Doctor smiled at her. "If we're lucky."

"Just... promise me one thing, find someone." Donna told him.

The Doctor frowned. "I don't need anyone. I've got Rhea."

Donna shook her head. "I know you do. But sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you, because I don't think Rhea wants to all the time."

"Yeah." The Doctor said, quietly. He paused. "Thanks then, Donna, good luck, and just... be magnificent." The Doctor told the redheaded bride as parting words.

Donna smiled and then laughed. "I think I will, yeah."

The Doctor smiled at her again and retreated back again into the TARDIS.

"Doctor?" Donna called out again.

The Doctor opened the door with mock exasperation. "Oh, what is it now?"

"That friend of yours... what was her name?"

The Doctor swallowed hard. "Her name was Rose." He said, with a lump in his throat.

The Doctor closed the door for the final time, and instead of its usual dematerialisation, the TARDIS shot up into the night sky. Donna watched the time machine leave with a sad smile and then walked back home to her family.

* * *

Rhea, who had stayed in the TARDIS throughout that last exchange between the Doctor and Donna, had heard every word, and the last sentence that the Doctor had told Donna had sent her heart beat skyrocketing.

_Now that's all over..._"Doctor?" He turned to face her. "What happened to Rose?" She rasped, her hands fidgeting.

Something changed in his eyes and he pulled her closer to him so that she was a hair's breadth away from him.

"See, this is why I hate our situation." The Doctor groaned out and he hugged her tightly to him. "You don't even know what happened. I can't tell you what happened because you haven't lived it yet. It is incredibly frustrating." His voice was a low growl by the end of his confession

"I'm sorry." Rhea whispered, making sure not to look him in the eye when they pulled back from their hug, not exactly sure of what to say in this sort of situation.

He kissed her hair and pulled back to look her in the eye, earnestly. "Oh, Rhea, I'm not blaming you. I'd never blame you. This isn't your fault. It will never be your fault. I'm just… angry." He paused. "Did I scare you today? With the Racnoss, I mean?" The Doctor asked in a way that suggested that he was afraid of what her answer would be.

Rhea frowned and looked up at him, cocking her head. "Should I be afraid of you?" Rhea asked, carefully, needing to know the truth.

The Doctor shook his head, frantically. "No, never, you're the _last_ person in the universe I would ever hurt."

Rhea smiled softly, touched by his words. She punched him playfully in the arm. "Well, you have your answer, don't you?" She grew serious. "I've seen you angry before, Doctor." She thought about the way he had acted towards Max Capricorn on the Titanic and how he had dealt with Cassandra on Platform One. "And, while it is a shock, it doesn't make me scared of you. I've seen you do so many _amazing_ things, those kind of outweigh the shock at seeing you angry." Rhea had the urge to touch his hair and her hand reached, cupping his face in her hand, her nails scratching through his sideburn. _Fuck-me hair, indeed._ She hummed.

She reached down, making a decision, and gripped his hands tightly in her own and pushed past him, leading him into the TARDIS, past the console room and towards her bedroom. He pulled back when they came to the door, his hands leaving hers, momentarily.

"Rhea, I know this is early in your timeline, we can't-" The Doctor blustered, not wanting to take advantage of her.

Rhea decided to ignore the "early in your timeline" bit, which provoked a lot of questions best left for later.

She rolled her eyes. "Typical. A woman leads a guy to her bedroom and he automatically thinks they're going to screw. Honey, I am not going to _have sex with you_ as a Christmas present." She said, laughing and pulling him into the room. She paused and turned back to look at him, giving him a flirtatious smile. "Maybe another time, handsome." She purred, and then laughed at his blush.

"So, what are we doing, then?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"We're going to sleep." Rhea said, simply. "I'm tired, I haven't actually gotten proper sleep in awhile and I'd like to get a couple of hours before I re-enact Back to the Future."

"I'm still confused."

Rhea rolled her eyes. It was becoming a force of habit for her. "Just come inside." She walked into the room and threw herself onto the bed, chucking her heels off and untying her hair, letting it fall around her face like a halo and act as a barrier between her head and the pillow. She closed her eyes, shifting slightly. Since she had thrown herself onto the bed haphazardly, her skirt had ridden up, exposing the smooth caramel skin of her thighs to his gaze. And since her eyes were closed, she couldn't see the Doctor eyeing the newly exposed skin with predatory eyes.

"Shoes and jacket off, and come lie down next to me." She ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." She heard his cheeky reply and smirked, her eyes still closed.

She felt the bed sink down as his weight joined hers and she felt a cool presence a few inches away from her. She turned on her side so that she was facing him, inevitably pulling her closer to him, and held out her hand, silently asking him to take it. He squeezed her hand and she felt the fingers on his other hand thread through her hair.

"You have a thing for my hair, don't you?" Rhea asked, teasingly, opening her eyes.

"Just a little." The Doctor confessed, sheepishly.

"I'd say more than a little." Rhea said, stifling a yawn.

There was a few minutes of silence. "Rhea, have you met Donna before?" The Doctor asked, suddenly.

Rhea smirked, still not opening her eyes. "_Spoilers_." Rhea purred, surprised at how she loved the way the word felt on her tongue. Now she knew why the Doctor used the word to throw her off her game all the time. It was all manners of sexy and empowering.

The Doctor groaned. "Now you get to start using the word, don't you?"

Rhea laughed. "You had your turn, honey. Now, it's mine."

They smiled at each other, snuggling closer to each other, an inch away from each other but still not touching, Rhea resting her head next to where the Doctor had rested his elbow. This was the closest Rhea could allow herself to get to him without having to revisit the way she felt about him.

They closed their eyes and let themselves fall asleep.

* * *

A/N: Well, there was the end of _The Runaway Bride_! And there was a nice fluffy Rhea/Doctor moment at end! They flirted and slept together! In a totally platonic way, of course! And the whole out-of-order thing does get to the Doctor as well. Poor Doctor. And the whole Rhea being scared of the Doctor is a really important thing for the Doctor. He needs to know that she isn't scared of him and the reason why will be explained in the future, when I hash out more about Rhea's back-story. And there was a nice bonding moment between Rhea and Donna. Some nice pieces of advice from Rhea, now you can tell why Donna cared a lot about Rhea in _The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. _Rhea understands Donna's situation, I wonder how? She said she's had her heart broken many times, I wonder by who? And Rhea's dark side reared its ugly head as well, she didn't necessarily want to stop the Doctor in the chamber, did she? I know I keep hammering the point that Rhea doesn't want to get close to the Doctor, but I kind of feel that's what her state of mind is like at this point. Every time she considers getting closer to the Doctor, she reminds herself that she can't.


	18. The Idiot's Lantern: The Golden Age

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, then I'd play video games with the Eleventh Doctor.

A/N: Here's another 10th Doctor episode! The Idiot's Lantern! Be aware, some of the things in this episode will change! And, just wanted to let all of you know, I have a Tumblr you can reach me on, where I've put up the cover for this story and a cover for the first chapter, _In The Beginning. _Every couple of days I'll try and put up a cover for each of the episodes, so go and check it out! OH, and if you wanted to ask me anything, about the story or Rhea or me or in general, go ahead, especially if you want to leave me a review, but are shy or can't be bothered on this site :)

Notes on Reviews:

Beulah2013: I'm glad you like the flirting and the innuendo between the two of them! Rhea loves flirting with the Doctor, any of them, really.

Tooclosefortety: Oh, honey, don't worry, starting a new school is always a terrifying thing, but it's a great chance to make new friends, so don't stress. If it makes you feel better, I start university in a couple of weeks and I don't know anyone who's doing the same course as me. I'm glad you liked the chapter and the interaction between Rhea and Donna and Rhea and the Doctor. Their relationship is getting a bit steamier as the story progresses ;)

YingWhiteyWolf: I'm glad you liked the ending, it was fun to write a slightly nervous ending. It was fun to write an embarrassed Doctor at the end, he didn't know what to do with her. I hope you do keep reviewing :) Honey, I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles, I had some problems a couple of years ago and fanfiction was very therapeutic. So, I totally understand, fanfiction really helped me out as well and I'm glad my story is helping. But, if you want to talk, my PM inbox is open all the time.

_Italics – _Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts.

* * *

The Idiot's Lantern: The Golden Age

When Rhea finally woke up, her eyes snapped open and she breathed heavily, rising to her waist with a gasp. She looked around. Her room seemed the same. It hadn't changed, but there was no Doctor beside her like there had been when she had fallen asleep. _He could have left. It wouldn't be the first time you went to bed with someone and woke up alone. _The door slammed open, banging against the wall. The Doctor walked in, the same Doctor she had just been lying on a bed with, he even wore the same pinstripe suit, except his hair was all styled, slicked back in a teddy-boy quiff, like something out of _Grease_. She thought it was all manners of adorable and sexy at the same time. Rhea grimaced at her own thoughts. _God, you and your stupid hormones._

"All right, Rhea?" The Doctor asked, rushing up to her, and helping her get off the bed, resting her body against his like a crutch, as she coped with her weak legs and sluggish body.

"My head hurts." Rhea heard herself moan the words out.

"I know, Rhea, I know." The Doctor said, soothingly, leading her over to the chair in her room. "This is the first time you've jumped without knowing." She sat down, heavily, her limp arms resting on the chair.

"We were sleeping…" Rhea murmured, confused.

"There was a flash of light coming from your room and the TARDIS told me that you'd arrived here." The Doctor explained.

"Oh. Okay." Rhea said, lamely, not really knowing what to say to that.

Her head lolled, falling onto the Doctor's shoulder. She snuggled into his neck, humming slightly. _Stop it!_

"Are you still feeling horrible?" The Doctor asked, worriedly.

"Just a bit." Rhea said, stretching her arms and legs, working out the kinks in her limbs.

She stood up and moved over to her desk, quickly opening her laptop. She made sure that the Doctor wasn't looking at the laptop before typing in 'Racnoss' after 'Platform One' and before 'Titanic', making sure that all of her entries were up to date. She stood up and pushed herself away from the table and the laptop suddenly, the Doctor following her motion, and grabbed his hand, tugging him out of the room.

"Why is your hair slicked back?" Rhea asked, with a frown, looking back at him on their way to the console room. "You look like John Travolta in Grease."

"We're going to go see Elvis." The Doctor told her, happily, pleased by her compliment.

"'We' as in you and me, or 'we' as in us and someone else." Rhea asked.

The Doctor frowned. "Rose is waiting for us in the console room." The Doctor said, slowly.

Rhea flinched slightly, knowing that the Doctor, and her, she guessed, were going to lose Rose very soon, if her last adventure said anything. However, she schooled her face into a blank expression, so she wouldn't give anything away to the Doctor.

They walked into the console room and sure enough, Rose was leaning against one of the railings, dressed in a jeans jacket, a pink dress with an empire waist that came to her knees, black stockings and hot pink heels, her hair done in a French twist, pretty as always. Rhea bounded up the ramp and hugged Rose quickly, who seemed surprised by the sudden show of affection, before going over to the console, resting her hands on the console behind her.

"Go see what the TARDIS has for you in the wardrobe. You'll start a mutiny out there, dressed like that." The Doctor ordered, motioning to the cleavage that showed through her strapless top.

_I knew he was looking. _Rhea huffed and walked back into the TARDIS, towards the wardrobe, just a tiny bit excited. It wasn't every day that she got to dress like it was the Fifties and actually visit the time period. When she ran into the wardrobe room, the TARDIS had already shoved a rack of period-correct dresses to the front so that she wouldn't have to go searching through the labyrinth to find something appropriate to wear. She pulled out a blue spaghetti strap top with polka-dots and a tight black stripey skirt that came to the middle of her thighs, not to mention a pair of black pumps. Appropriate but racy. Her favourite kind of clothes. _Not to mention a fashion disaster in my own time._

She strutted back to the console room of the TARDIS and stopped when the Doctor and Rose came into her eyesight, patiently waiting for her. She leaned an elbow against the wall and jutted her hip to the opposite side, the corresponding hand falling to her waist. She eyed the Doctor with a wicked smile.

"Well, is this appropriate, time boy?" Rhea purred, her eyes smouldering.

The Doctor spun on his feet when he heard Rhea's voice, his jaw dropping when he saw what she had chosen to wear. He swallowed hard as he looked her curvy, yet slender form in that tight top and tight skirt.

"That skirt is a bit…tight, don't you think?" The Doctor said, hoarsely, his face flushing mildly and his voice a little high due to his nervousness, making sure that he wasn't looking her in the eye. Rhea definitely didn't miss his reaction to her clothing, delighted that she could have this effect on a centuries old Time Lord. It was definitely empowering but a voice screamed in the back of her head that he could have that same effect on her, which she consequently ignored. _No chick flick moments, honey._

Rhea smiled, provocatively. "I know." Rhea whispered, leaning into him and dragging her fingers across his chest.

The Doctor choked slightly. "You know how to drive a motorcycle, don't you?" The Doctor asked, weakly, changing the subject quickly.

"Enough." Rhea shrugged, remembering a few lessons with her uncle and cousin, the first one that had ended with her bike crashing into a tree and her head hitting a jagged rock on the side of the road. Just one of the many scars on her body today.

He pulled her from the console, back into the TARDIS, ignoring her groan. He showed her to a room, filled with automobiles of all kinds. There was a yellow roadster, which the Doctor fondly called "Bessie", a Volkswagen Beetle, a 1959 Edsel wagon, a Harley Davidson Sportster that looked like a replica of her uncle's one in Mumbai, a Pontiac Firebird which Rhea stroked reverently before the Doctor dragged her away, and two late-50s mopeds that sat in the corner.

"When do I get to drive the Firebird?" Rhea whined as they climbed onto their respective mopeds.

"Another time, Rhea." The Doctor promised, humouring her, and put on his white helmet and big sunglasses, making Rhea laugh loudly at his getup.

"Helmet." The Doctor warned.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "I don't do helmets." Rhea said. "I spent entirely too long making myself look like Natalie Wood to screw up my hair now." She folded her arms and then touched her tight curls briefly.

The Doctor looked her over, fondly. "I think you look more like Grace Kelly, to be honest."

Rhea was touched by the comparison. "Really?" She said, smiling shyly.

"Yeah." The Doctor grinned.

* * *

Two pink, high heeled shoes stepped out onto the pavement, along with a big pink skirt with layers of tulle beneath. Rose, in full 50s regalia, brushed a strand of hair from her fringe out of her eyes as she walked out onto the street, looking around.

"I thought we'd be going for the Vegas era, you know- the white flares and the..." She growled, seductively. "Chest hair."

Rhea poked her head out the TARDIS door, looking at Rose with an incredulous look on his face.

"You're joking, right?" Rhea asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "You wanna see Elvis, you go to the late 50s! The time before burgers." Rhea said, grinning at the blonde girl, before disappearing back inside, trying to see why the Doctor was taking so long, wheeling the mopeds to the console room. "When they called him 'the Pelvis' and he still had a waist." Rhea cackled and Rose laughed in turn. "And anyway, the Elvis idea was the Doctor's. If I was going to the 1950s, I'd prefer going to see Frank Sinatra…or a musical! Like West Side Story or Guys and Dolls." Rhea said.

Rose looked back at the TARDIS. "They did that on The Simpsons once, didn't they?"

Rhea laughed from the inside of the TARDIS. "Yeah, they did. Or something like Paint Your Wagon. That's more of my kind of thing. I mean, I love rock, but I'm more of late 1960s and on kind of girl. I grew up with Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, REO Speedwagon, Bon Jovi, The Supremes, The Doors and all that playin' at home."

"I bet you were a total biker chick." Rose teased.

Rhea stuck her head out again. "Just a bit." Rhea said, sheepishly. "It's not my fault I have picky taste when it comes to rock music. The only Elvis song I listened to was 'Jailhouse Rock' and that's 'cause I had to sing it at karaoke at my cousin's bachelorette party. I even wore go-go boots. It was embarrassing." Rhea shuddered, remembering the photos.

Rhea watched as the Doctor pushed both the mopeds up the ramp and hurried over to take one of his hands. She slipped onto her moped and started the vehicle, feeling it thrum beneath her, and the two of them rode out of the TARDIS, engines roaring behind them. Rose laughed in amusement, clapping her hands excitedly when they skidded to a stop in front of her.

The Doctor turned his eyes around towards Rhea, who was next to him, leaning on the handles with a smile. "You goin' my way, baby?" The Doctor donned an acceptable Elvis impersonation, deep voice, American accent, expression and all, trying to coax Rhea into joining him, trying the word 'baby' out on his tongue and grinning. She had to be impressed by his attempt though.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny, Andy Kaufman." Rhea said, sarcastically. _There's just something about him calling me 'baby'. It makes me all tingly. _Rhea sighed, exasperated, and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're cruisin' for a bruisin', _baby._" She said, wagging her finger and playing along, a reluctant smile coming to her lips.

"Hey, you speak the lingo!" The Doctor cried out, delighted, giving her a beaming smile.

Rhea shrugged. "Yeah, well, my mom and I used to watch Grease every Thanksgiving and 4th of July. John Travolta as a greaser really does it for me. Not to mention I had a massive crush on James Dean when I was younger." Rhea said, smiling when she saw the Doctor's disgruntled, jealous look. "But I like the whole Marlon Brando/James Dean thing _you've_ got going on." Rhea said, eyeing him up and down, unashamedly, and giving him a secret smile. She leaned in. "In fact, it _really_ gets me going." Rhea purred, biting her lower lip. She clucked her tongue.

The Doctor flushed, straightening his tie and running his hand across his hair, smoothing it down, and turned back to Rose, who was watching them flirt with the look of someone who had been watching this happen between them for a long time. "You goin' my way, doll." The Doctor mock-growled in the same Elvis voice he had used with Rhea.

Rose slipped on her own pair of big sunglasses, hot pink to match her outfit. "Is there any other way to go, daddy-o?" Rose said, putting on a pretty good American accent." She walked towards the Doctor's moped, laughing. "Straight from the fridge, man!"

Rhea laughed loudly, throwing her head back. The Doctor was briefly distracted by the sight of her exposed neck. "Oh, that was awesome, Blondie!" She smirked at the Doctor. "So much better than yours."

"Oh, shut up." The Doctor muttered. He tossed a pink version of his helmet to Rose, who caught it and put it on.

"Yeah well... me, mum, Cliff Richard movies every Bank Holiday Monday." Rose told Rhea. She sat behind the Doctor on the moped, side-saddle, wrapping the layers of his dress around her.

The Doctor grimaced. "Ah, Cliff! I knew your mother'd be a Cliff fan."

Rhea reached over and smacked him over the back of his head. "Don't insult her mother. That's a place you never go." She warned.

The three of them drove off down the street.

"Where are we off to?" Rose asked them over the noise of both moped's engines.

"Ed Sullivan TV Studios, Elvis did 'Hound Dog' on one of the shows, there were loads of complaints. Bit of luck, we'll just catch it." The Doctor said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"And that'll be TV studios in, what, New York?" Rose asked, sticking her head over his shoulder and looking around.

"That's the one!" The Doctor said, happily.

A red _London_ double-decker bus drove past the end of the street, forcing the Doctor and Rhea to stop their mopeds. Rhea could see a red post box and a string of Union flags joining houses that were across the street from each other together. The Doctor looked mildly upset but Rose just laughed it off.

"Digging that New York vibe." Rose giggled.

"Well... this COULD still be New York, I mean this looks very New York to me... sort of... Londony New York, mind.." The Doctor tried, rather lamely.

"Honey, I've been to New York, and this ain't New York." Rhea said, looking over at the Doctor. "This is what I mean, you absolutely suck at driving." Rhea said to the Doctor, with a mock-exasperated glare. His only reply was a cheeky wink and a kiss to her hair, which made her roll her eyes, fondly.

"What are the flags for?" Rose asked, with a frown.

Rhea frowned as well. "Good point, Blondie," She levelled a knowing grin at the Doctor. "Let's go find out." She encouraged.

They started up the mopeds again and zoomed off down the street, Rhea whooping and laughing in joy as the wind caught in her hair, throwing it behind her. The Doctor looked at her, briefly, smiling to himself. _She looks so beautiful when she laughs._

* * *

A man threw open the doors to his van, which had 'Magpies Marvellous Tellies' written across the front of it, and two errand boys took out a television and carried it out into a house, the house owner looking on.

"There you go, sir, all wired up for the great occasion." The man said, with a pleased grin.

The Doctor, Rhea and Rose walked past and heard him, stopping.

"The great occasion? What d'you mean?" The Doctor asked the man.

"Where have you been living, out in the Colonies? Coronation, of course." The man said with a bemused smile.

"What Coronation's that, then?" The Doctor asked, confused.

Rhea rolled her eyes.

"What d'you mean? THE Coronation." The man repeated as if the Doctor were dense.

The Doctor still looked blank and turned to Rhea for help, their joined hands swinging between them.

_Silly man. _"The Queen's." Rhea said, slowly, rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm for good measure. "Queen Elizabeth!"

The Doctor looked as if something had finally clicked in his head. "Oh! _Oh_, is this 1953?" The Doctor asked, with a beaming grin, delight obvious in his voice.

The man looked like he was talking to a lunatic. "Last time I looked. Time for a lovely bit of pomp and circumstance, what we do best."

Rose looked at the chimneys at the tops of all the houses around them. "Look at all the TV aerials... looks like everyone's got one. That's weird, my nan said tellies were so rare they all had to pile into one house." Rose told Rhea.

Rhea frowned. "It wasn't like that in the States. My uncle said that every house had a TV by the end of the decade." Rhea looked around, suspiciously.

"Not round here, loves. Magpie's Marvellous Tellies, only five quid a box." The man said, proudly, which made Rhea's eyes snap to him.

Rhea looked back to see that Doctor, who had wandered a short way around the street, thinking. He suddenly cut back into the conversation.

"Oh but this is a _brilliant_ year!" The Doctor crowed, practically gushing. "Classic! Technicolour, Everest climbed, everything off the ration," He started walking around with deliberate steps. Then, he put on a typical English accent, holding his arms out. "The Nation throwing off the shadows of war and looking forward to a happier, brighter future!"

Rose and Rhea laughed loudly, the latter stepping into the Doctor's arms, who wrapped his arms around her waist.

Suddenly, a woman's shouts were heard.

"Someone help me, please! Ted!" A woman screamed.

Rhea, the Doctor, and Rose over to the direction of the screams, where a man with a blanket thrown over his head was being bundled into a black police car by two black-suited men. The Doctor, Rhea and Rose raced over.

"Leave him alone, it's my husband!" The same woman from before screamed from the threshold of her home.

"What's going on?" The Doctor and Rhea asked, slightly panting, when they came over to where the action was happening.

The blanketed man was pushed into the back seat as a teenage boy ran out of his own house.

"Oi, what are you doing?!" He shouted, running up to them himself.

One of the suited men addressed the Doctor, ignoring Rhea, who narrowed her eyes at the man.

"Police business, now get out of the way, sir!" The man growled.

Rose turned to the teenager. "Who did they take, do you know him?"

"Must be Mr Gallagher..." The teenager said.

The car drove off, everyone helpless to stop it, leaving Mrs Gallagher in despair. A woman came out of the teenager's house.

"It's happening all over the place. They're turning into monsters..." The teenager told Rhea, the Doctor and Rose.

An older man, probably in his forties or fifties, slightly large, wearing a suit and tie and war medals on his chest, stormed out of that same house.

"Tommy! Not one word!" He shouted at the teenager before he was able to say anything more to the man and the two women.

Rhea and the Doctor shared a look and then stared at the man.

"Get inside now!" The man hissed at Tommy.

"Sorry, I'd better do as he says..." Tommy said, looking apologetic, to Rhea, the Doctor and Rose.

Mrs Gallagher was still sobbing in the doorway of her house, but the Doctor put his sunglasses on again, and ran over to his moped, motioning for Rhea to do the same, and kicked it into life, Rhea following him.

"All aboard." The Doctor said, after Rose had gotten on behind him.

The man watched the three drove off.

* * *

The black car hurtled around a corner.

"Operation Market Stall, go, go, go!" The dark suited man, who had spoken to the Doctor, ordered.

Tall, corrugated metal gates opened at the end of the street and allowed the black car to slip through, closing behind it almost immediately. Immediately, a wooden market barrow is wheeled in front of the gates and two men started sweeping the floor, as if they had always been there. The Doctor, Rhea and Rose came around the corner on their mopeds and stopped short of the market stall, staring at the gates with annoyance.

"Lost 'em! How'd they get away from us?" The Doctor asked, bemused.

"Surprised they didn't turn back and arrest you for reckless driving, have you actually PASSED your test?!" Rose asked the Doctor.

Rhea snorted. "Have you seen the way he drives the TARDIS? There's your answer to that question." Rhea looked around, eyeing the market stall with suspicion. "I wonder if it's like in those spy movies. Hidden passage way and all that." Rhea said, gesturing to the gates.

The Doctor didn't pay any attention to their criticism of his moped driving. "Men in black? Vanishing police cars? This is Churchill's England, not Stalin's Russia!" The Doctor said, incredulously.

"Baby, you've obviously not been to McCarthy's America in the 1950s. It's the Red Scare, honey, this is happening all over my country." Rhea paused. "Monsters, that kid said…" Rhea said, thoughtfully. The Doctor and Rose turned to her. "Maybe we should go and talk to the neighbours."

The Doctor nodded. "That's what I like about you. The domestic approach." The Doctor said, smiling.

Rhea pursed her lips. "I will punch you in the face, no questions asked."

The Doctor grinned, kicking the moped back to life, and sped off back the way they had come.

* * *

By the time they had finished to speaking to everyone who lived on the same street as the Gallaghers, the sun had set and the stars had come out. They walked down the footpath, the Doctor holding Rhea's hand on one side and Rose's in the other hand. Rhea rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder as they walked up to the last house they had to visit.

"Let's hope we get something out of this kid. He looked a little suss today afternoon." Rhea commented, remembering Tommy's father's angry and nervous face as he stopped his son from saying anything further to them.

Rose looked over at Rhea. "How can you tell?" Rose asked, confused.

Rhea laughed, lightly. "Honey, I made a damn good living being able to tell these things about people."

When they approached the porch of the last house, Rhea reached over and rung the doorbell. The door opened after a minute by the same angry man who had yanked his son away from them earlier that day.

"Hi!" The Doctor, Rhea and Rose, drawled out in an adorable chorus, wearing identical cheesy grins.

The man regarded the three of them suspiciously, as Tommy lurked in the background.

"Who are you, then?" The man asked, rudely.

"Let's see then, judging by the look of you, family man, nice house, decent wage, fought in the war, therefore," The Doctor muttered to the two women. "I represent Queen and country!" He held up the black wallet containing the psychic paper with a flourish.

"Good job, Sherlock Holmes." Rhea muttered to the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled quickly and then turned his attention back to the man. "Just doing a little check of Her Majesty's forthcoming subjects for the great day. Don't mind if I come in? Nah, didn't think you did, thank you!" The Doctor said, quickly. He barged past the man, without allowing him time to protest, and Rhea and Rose followed suit, all of them going into the living room.

"Not bad, very nice! Very well kept! I'd like to congratulate you, Mrs...?" The Doctor trailed off.

"Connolly." The woman said, timidly.

"Now then Rita, I can handle this." The man said, with a quelling look towards his wife, which made Rhea and Rose bristle. "This gentleman's a proper representative!" The man said, proudly, rocking back on his feet.

The Doctor gave Rita, who looked terrified, a wink. Rhea joined the Doctor, who wrapped an arm around her waist, while Rose perched herself on the arm of the couch, her skirts floating about her.

"Don't mind the wife, she rattles on a bit." The man hastily said to the Doctor.

Rhea narrowed her eyes at the man, but the Doctor simply gave him a cool look. "Well, maybe she should rattle on a bit more."

Rhea hid her pleased smile. _That's my alien boy._ Tommy and Mr. Connolly looked shocked, the latter had obviously never been addressed like that before. However, the Doctor didn't look fazed at all, and simply continued.

"I'm not convinced you're doing your patriotic duty." The Doctor glanced briefly at the flags around the room, waiting to be put up. "Nice flags. Why are they not flying?"

There was a nervous pause. "There we are Rita, I told you, get them up, Queen and country!" Mr. Connolly ordered his wife.

The Doctor looked sceptical and Rhea just looked angry. The Doctor began to move towards Eddie, pulling Rhea along with him by a hand.

"I'm sorry-" Rita began.

"Get it done! Do it now." Mr. Connolly barked.

"Hold on a minute-" The Doctor interrupted.

However, Mr. Connolly didn't listen. "Hold on a minute. You've got hands, Mr Connolly. Two big hands!" The Doctor remarked and then narrowed his eyes. "Why is that your wife's job?"

Mr. Connolly frowned, confused. "It's housework, innit?"

"And that's a woman's job?" Rhea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Course it is!" Mr. Connolly scoffed, sneering at her, as if it were below his status to address her.

Rhea just managed to stop herself from punching the man in the face. "Mr Connolly, what gender is the Queen?" Rhea asked him, a smile on her face, but her teeth clenched tightly together to anyone who was looking.

"She's a female." Mr. Connolly answered, growing increasingly defensive.

Rhea smiled widely. _Thank you for falling into my trap, you sexist bastard. I am going to have so much fun with this. _"And are you suggesting the Queen does the housework?" Rhea purred, cocking her head, loving the flustered and defeated look that appeared on the man's face. She turned to face the Doctor, giving him a sultry wink with her eyes when she saw the proud smile on his face.

It was rather amusing for the Doctor to watch this older man being humbled by his Rhea. His strong, beautiful, intelligent, independent, absolutely brilliant Rhea. _That's my girl._ He thought proudly, his arms folding across his chest. She never needed him to protect her, always able to hold her own against anything. Not that he didn't want to protect her, he would go to the ends of the universe to protect her…but she just didn't need it. She wouldn't be his Rhea if she needed him to protect her all the time.

A small smile grew on Tommy's face as he watched the couple win the confrontation, as Mr. Connolly inevitably gave into Rhea's logic after a moment of hesitation, furious at himself for falling into a woman's trap. Rhea looked over at the couch. Even Rita seemed a little heartened by her husband's humiliation.

"No! Not at all!" Mr. Connolly blustered.

The Doctor handed the man a string of flags, giving him an expectant look.

"Then get busy." The Doctor ordered, quietly.

"Right, yes sir." Mr. Connolly set about hanging the flags, feigning enthusiasm, but neither the Doctor, Rhea, Tommy or Rose were fooled.

"You'll be proud of us, sir! We'll have Union Jacks left, right and centre!" Mr Connolly exclaimed from the wall.

Rose suddenly stood up, hands on her hips, as the Doctor and Rhea slowly paced back across the room. "'Scuse me, Mr Connolly, hang on a minute! Union Jacks?" Rose clarified, with a secretive smile on her face.

Mr Connolly pause in his work to look at her. "Yes, that's right, isn't it?"

"That's the Union Flag. It's the Union Jack only when it's flown at sea." Rose corrected him.

Tommy's smile grew into a grin as Mr Connolly tried to humble himself.

"Oh... oh, I'm sorry, I do apologise!" Mr Connolly said, flustered.

Rose smiled wide. "Well, don't get it wrong again, there's a good man." Her tone grew stronger and more determined. "Now get to it!"

Mr Connolly hastily got back to work, and Rose gave Rhea, who gave her a proud grin, a coy smile. The Doctor looked slightly bewildered at the change in Rose himself, the two women giving him 'proud of themselves' looks. Rose and the Doctor both sat on the sofa, while Rhea sat on the armrest next to the Doctor and Rita, making themselves comfortable and grinning.

"Right then! Nice and comfy, at Her Majesty's leisure!" The Doctor exclaimed. He turned to Rose. "Union Flag?" He asked, quietly.

"Mum went out with a sailor." Rose explained.

The Doctor chuckled quietly. "Oohohohoo! I bet she did!" His voice grew louder, speaking to the room as a whole again. "Anyway, I'm the Doctor, this is Rhea and this is Rose, and you are?" He looked at Tommy, who seemed surprised to be noticed.

"Tommy." Tommy answered.

The Doctor and Rose shifted aside, making a space for Tommy to sit in between them. Rhea rested the side of her torso against the Doctor, leaning into him just a bit, as she made herself comfortable.

"Well, sit yourself down, Tommy." The Doctor said. He motioned to the other chair, on the other side of Rhea, gesturing for Rita to sit down too. They all looked at the television.

"Have a look at this. I love telly, don't you?" The Doctor said.

"Yeah, I think it's brilliant!" Tommy said, with a smile.

The Doctor grinned. "Good man!"

They watched the programme, something about fossils, silently for a few moments before the Doctor turned around to check on Mr Connolly, who was still hanging the flags.

"Keep working Mr C!" He turned to Rita, dropping the cheerful act and speaking quietly, so that Mr Connolly couldn't hear them. "Now, why don't you tell us what's wrong?"

"Did you say you were a doctor?" Rita asked him, hopefully.

"We both are." Rhea whispered, pointing at herself and the Doctor.

"Can you help her?" Rita asked, helplessly, looking between the two. "Oh please, can you help her?"

Mr Connolly seemed to have heard the last part of the conversation and interrupted then.

"Now then Rita, I don't think the gentleman needs to know..."

"No, the gentleman does!" The Doctor cut in.

Rita began to cry and Rhea shifted on the armrest so that she could address the hysterical woman.

"Tell us what's wrong, and we can help." Rhea said, soothingly, squeezing the woman's hands comfortingly.

Rita's sobs just grew louder, and she shook her head, helplessly. Rose moved from the couch over to the other side of Rita and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, and the Doctor watched with a concerned frown, him and Rhea looking at each other.

"I'm sorry, come on, come on..." Rose whispered.

"Hold on a minute! Queen and country's one thing, but this is my house!" Mr Connolly shouted. He looked down at the flags in his hands, chucking them down. Rhea watched as the Doctor propped his head on his forearm and balled fist, the latter giving her the impression that he was barely restraining himself, despite the fact that his face gave nothing away. "What the, what the hell am I doing? Now you listen here, Doctor! You may have fancy qualifications, but what goes on under my roof is my business!" Mr Connolly roared at the seated man.

"All the people are being bundled into-" The Doctor started, scathingly.

"I am talking!" Mr Connolly shouted.

The Doctor stood, the last shred of his patience gone, raising his voice even louder than Mr Connolly's and literally spitting in his face as he used his impressive height to loom over the man. "And I'm not listening! Now you, Mr Connolly, are staring into a deep, dark _pit_ of trouble if you don't let us help." The Doctor hissed.

Mr Connolly was clearly shaken. It was obvious that he was, to himself and to others around him, the alpha male, and to have someone like the Doctor humiliate him like that, definitely frightened him. Tommy and Rita looked scared themselves, surprised by the friendly man's sudden rage. Rhea gave both of them a reassuring look and stood up herself, reaching out and taking the Doctor's hand.

"So I'm ordering you, _sir_, to tell us what's going on!" The Doctor roared.

Mr Connolly tried to think of something to say, but was halted by the sound of something banging on the floor from upstairs. His eyes, the Doctor's eyes, and Rhea's eyes rolled upwards, while Tommy looked around nervously and Rita sighed and shook her head.

"She won't stop." Mr Connolly whispered, with a degree of fear.

The banging continued, louder this time.

Tommy found the confidence to start explaining in a slightly shaky voice, and the Doctor and Rhea turned to listen to him. As he spoke, Rita looked upset and embarrassed and Mr Connolly, guiltily, tried to regain some composure.

"We started hearing stories, all round the place. People who've... changed. Families keeping it secret 'cause they were scared. The police started finding out. We don't know how, no one does. They just... turn up, come to the door and take 'em. Any time of the day or night." Tommy explained, hurriedly.

"Show us." The Doctor and Rhea told him, exactly at the same time.

* * *

It was dark in the bedroom that Tommy opened, only blackness could be seen. A creaking sound of the door opening was heard, with Tommy peeking around it, cautiously.

"Gran? It's Tommy." Tommy murmured. He opened the door wider, allowed the Doctor and others behind to see inside the darkened room.

"'S all right Gran, I've brought help." Tommy said, soothingly.

His grandmother was standing by the window, a silhouette moving towards them, an eerie figure in the dark. Tommy stepped a little further inside the room. He turned on the light and her face, well, lack of face, was revealed to everyone. All the features on her face, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, had all disappeared and looked smoothed over, just the skin left behind. Rose gulped, Rhea tensed and the Doctor simply stared with a furrowed brow.

The Doctor peered at the blank face. Rhea and Rose stood near him, Tommy and Rita were close together behind the Doctor, and Mr Connolly remained completely outside the room, donning a grim expression.

"Her face is completely gone." The Doctor murmured, with an air of fascination.

He scanned her face with his sonic screwdriver and Rose still looked uneasy. Rhea reached behind the Doctor and gripped her hand, offering the girl some comfort.

"Scarcely an electrical impulse left. Almost complete neural shutdown, she's ticking over, like her brain has been... wiped clean." The Doctor mused to himself, putting the sonic screwdriver away, but still continued to examine her face.

"What're we gonna do, Doctor? We can't even feed her!" Tommy asked, helplessly.

They were interrupted by the crash of the policemen entering the house, everyone's attention turning to the door.

"We've got company…" Rhea said, in a sing-song voice.

"It's them, they've come for her!" Rita cried, terrified.

Rhea frowned when she saw Mr Connolly's face. _He's the only one pleased by this. Why, though? _Rhea's eyes dawned with realisation. _Because he's the one that that ratted them out. Figures._

"What was she doing before this happened? Where was she?" The Doctor asked Tommy and Rita, hurriedly.

Rita hesitated as the policemen clambered up the staircase.

"Tell me, quickly, think!"

"I can't think! She doesn't leave the house! She was just-" Tommy was cut off by the entrance of a big, burly man and some supporting officers. The Doctor tried to buy some time.

"Hold on a minute! There are three important, brilliant, and complicated reasons why you should listen to me. One-"

Much to Rose's horror, the burly man punched the Doctor in the face, hard, sending him to the floor, unconscious.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, slapping the Doctor's cheeks in an attempt to wake him up.

When the man's fist swung for a second time, Rhea's training kicked in. She used her right arm to block his forearm, shoving it away from her, and slammed the heel of her left palm into his nose from underneath, pushing his head back forcefully, breaking his nose immediately. She used her right arm, which was still blocking the man's hand, to lock around his elbow and turned to the side, twisting his arm painfully and giving her all the power, a feeling that increased the adrenaline rushing through her, her face twisting into a cold smile. She lifted her own elbow slightly and pushed down with her left hand, the one gripping the man's head, making the man lose his balance and fall to the floor with a thud. She kicked him in the side of his head with her heels for good measure, sending him into blackness.

She looked back, not ruffled at all, immaculate as always, her focus turned towards the Doctor, and the need rushed through her to make sure he was safe at all costs. She fell to her knees beside him, on the other side of Rose, who looked at her with amazement and admiration and just a little bit of terror. She looked around, seeing no more officers, but no more grandmother and no more Tommy or Rita also. She realised that during that pathetic excuse for a fight the other officers must have taken Tommy's grandmother and the other two must have rushed after them.

"What did you do to him?" Rose asked, blinking quite quickly as she observed the man that Rhea had just rendered unconscious.

Rhea rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, it was…Krav Maga." Rhea said, quickly, not wanting to get into details. She was about to shake the Doctor awake when he suddenly sat up as if nothing had happened.

"Ah, hell of a right hook! Have to watch out for that!" The Doctor said, shaking his head.

Rhea snorted. "Why? You get popped in the mouth often?" Rhea asked, sarcastically.

The Doctor looked over and saw that the man who had punched him was now lying on his side, unconscious with a bloody smear under his nose after Rhea had broken it, as well as the cut on his cheek when Rhea's heel had scraped against it as she kicked him.

"What did you do?" The Doctor asked her.

Rhea shrugged. "He hit you. I hit him. Quid pro quo." She said, defensively

The Doctor growled a little. "You shouldn't have done that." Then he paused, relenting a bit. The Doctor leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to her forehead before belting down the stairs, rushing after the officers and Tommy's grandmother.

He was too late though, arriving just as the car drove off, with Mr Connolly still blocking the doorway, preventing him from getting through.

"Don't fight it, back inside!" Mr Connolly shouted at his family.

The Doctor pushed past him and ran to his moped, as Rhea and Rose came down the stairs as quickly as they could, Rhea in her tight skirt and Rose in her dainty shoes, not completely used to running around in high heels. Mr Connolly was restraining his wife and son.

"Rhea, Rose, come on!" The Doctor shouted from outside.

"Get back inside!" Mr Connolly shouted at his family.

Rhea and Rose paused at the entrance of the Connolly's living room, noticing the red, buzzing tendrils of electricity coming out of the television.

"But Dad, they took her!" They heard Tommy's voice shout.

"Go back inside, don't fight it..."

The Doctor urgently called out for both Rhea and Rose as he fastened his helmet and started up the moped. "Rhea, Rose, we're gonna lose them again!" He shouted.

Rhea was torn between running to the Doctor and examining the television set. She turned to Rose, who hadn't moved from her side, just waiting for her.

"You go on, go with the Doctor." She looked back at the television. "I'm just going to take a look at the TV."

Rose frowned, looking at her. "Are you sure? I can stay with you." Rose said, worriedly.

Rhea gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Rose. Remember? I took out the guy upstairs in thirty seconds flat." She looked back at the television, seeing that the tendrils were disappearing back into the TV set, prompting her to move closer.

"No, I'm staying with you." Rose said, stubbornly.

The Doctor, on his moped, gave up waiting for Rhea and rode off on his scooter, in pursuit of the black car.

Rhea, meanwhile, began fumbling with the television set, with Rose observing from behind her, turning it around so that she could see where the red electricity, which was still buzzing around the aerial, was coming from. She noticed a large label on the back, which read 'Magpie Electricals', frowning suspiciously. Tommy, Rita and Mr Connolly came back into the living room.

"How did they find her? Who told 'em?" Tommy asked his father.

Mr Connolly was about to reply to Tommy when he noticed Rhea and Rose still in his living room. "You! Get the hell out of my house!" He shouted.

Rhea rolled her eyes and got up. "We're going, we're done! Nice to meet you Tommy, Mrs Connolly." She smiled when the woman gave her a nod and turned to the red-faced man next to her. "And as for you, _you sexist bastard_, I hope you choke and die." Rhea said, utterly serious before grinning, grabbing Rose's hand and then racing out of the house before he could reply.

* * *

The black police car swerved around a bend and straight through the same wooden doors of the warehouse that the Doctor, Rhea and Rose had reached earlier. The Doctor arrived, some way behind on their much slower vehicle, only to see that the car had disappeared in what appeared to be a dead end. The doors were closed and there were only the same two workmen, apparently clearing away some rubbish from the stall and sweeping the streets. The Doctor stopped and swiftly worked out what they had done, both now and earlier.

"Oh, very good! Very good!" The Doctor said, appreciatively.

He walked around the warehouse, looking for a way to get inside. He eventually found a small gate on the side and broke in with his sonic screwdriver. Inside, he observed two policemen locking up some more cage-like gates and saw that they contained several dozen people. He opened those gates too with his screwdriver and saw that those several dozen people in the enclosure had no faces as well. They could only clench and unclench their fists in an eerie, almost mechanical manner, and shuffle towards the Doctor. Suddenly, a bright light flared from behind him and the Doctor spun on his feet and squinted into the light, seeing the two policemen who had locked up the cages earlier, standing in front of the headlamps of their car.

"Stay where you are!" A man ordered.

* * *

Rhea and Rose entered Magpie's shop, where the owner was currently adjusting a TV set on his counter. He looked up nervously when he heard them come in.

"Oh, I, I'm sorry, I'm afraid you're too late. I was just about to lock the door." Magpie stuttered.

Rose shut the door behind her and the two stayed anyway.

"Yes, well, I want to buy a television." Rhea said, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Come back tomorrow. Please." Magpie pleaded.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "You'll be closed, won't ya?"

"What?" Magpie asked, genuinely confused.

"For the big day?" Rhea tried. "The coronation…"

Realisation dawned in Magpie's eyes. "Yes, yes, of course. The big day." He tried to make the two leave as they walked over to him. "I'm sure you'll find somewhere to watch it. Please go."

"The way I see it is that half of London has a television." Rhea began, innocently. "Especially since you're practically giving them away."

"I have my reasons." Magpie said, defensively.

Rhea smiled. "Experience and education has taught me that people always have reasons. The problem _is_ that they're not always honourable." She cocked her head, staring at him intensely. "So, what are yours?"

Before he could answer her question, one of the television sets on display tuned itself, an image of the face of a middle aged woman appearing on the screen.

"Hungry! Hungry!" The face cried.

Rhea frowned and looked at the screen, suddenly.

"What's that?" Rose asked Magpie.

"It's just a television. One of these modern programmes. Now, I really do think you should leave! Right now!" Magpie ordered.

Rhea turned back to Magpie. "We're not going anywhere until you've told us what's going on here. Why are you selling these televisions so cheap?"

"It's my patriotic duty. Seems only right that as many folk as possible get to watch the coronation. We may be losing the Empire but we can still be proud! Twenty million people they reckon'll be watching! Imagine that!" Magpie exclaimed.

Rhea smiled widely, not convinced at all. _Oh, sweetie, don't try and con me._

"And twenty million people can't be wrong, eh? So why don't you get yourself back home and get up, bright and early, for the big day?" Magpie encouraged, urgently.

Rose shook her head. "Nah, We're not leaving 'til we've seen everything."

"I need to close." Magpie protested.

Rhea decided to change her tactic and lowered her voice. "Mr Magpie, something is happening out there. Ordinary people are getting their face stolen and the only thing new in the house is a television set. One of _your_ televisions. You want to tell me what's going on here?" Rhea asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I knew this would happen. I knew I'd be found out." Magpie sighed, giving up all pretence. He locked the door behind him and Rhea tensed, her fists clenching, ready to act at a moment's notice. She looked over at Rose, who looked uneasy.

"All right, then, it's just you and us..." Rose started, cautiously.

"Does that mean you're going to tell us what's going on?" Rhea asked, carefully. "What are you really getting out of this?"

Magpie raised an eyebrow. "For me? Perhaps some peace."

Rose frowned. "From what?"

"From _her_." Magpie glanced over at the middle-aged woman on the television screen and Rhea and Rose followed his gaze.

"That's just a woman on the telly, that's just a programme." Rose said, confused.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be too sure." Rhea said, slowly, gazing into the woman's eyes. _Too lifelike. I've definitely seen it all. Talking television programs._

"What a pretty, clever little girl." The woman purred.

Rose just stared. "Oh, my god, is she talking to _you_?" Rose looked over at Rhea.

"Yes, I'm talking to you_, _little one." The woman replied.

"Great, it looks like someone's seen Taxi Driver one too many times." Rhea muttered under her breath.

The woman ignored Rhea. "Unseasonably chilly for the time of year, don't you think?" She asked, lightly.

"What are you?" Rhea growled.

"I'm the Wire. And I'm hungrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy...!" The woman cried, baring her teeth.

Pinkish purplish bolts of electricity shot out of the screen and aimed for Rose's face when Rhea shoved her away, taking her place and the electricity encompassed her entire face, sucking… Rose screamed when she saw Rhea's face start to get pulled inside the television set.

"Rose, get out of here, now!" Rhea shouted through the pain of her skin stretching uncomfortably. _Okay, got to remember to never repeat this experience ever again. Getting your face sucked off fucking hurts!_

"But I can't leave you!" Rose cried out. She was torn, she couldn't leave Rhea here, but she couldn't stay, otherwise she would be met by the same fate and no one would be able to warn the Doctor. Before she could make a decision, she felt something hard strike her head and all she knew was black.

Rhea was able to see Rose's prone body on the floor through the corner of her eye.

"Just think of that audience tomorrow, my dear..." Magpie said, sadly. Rhea groaned in response. "All sitting down to watch the coronation. Twenty million people. Things will never be the same again." He sounded close to tears. "I'm sorry. So sorry."

He averted his eyes as Rhea's face was sucked into the screen, while the woman groaned in pain.

"Goodnight, children. Everywhere." The Wire whispered, serenely, utterly and completely pleased with herself.

* * *

A/N: OH, MY GOD! RHEA'S FACE GOT SUCKED OFF! I hope you all liked this chapter. I do want to warn you, at least half of this chapter was written while I was in the hospital, as my grandmother had a colonoscopy, so I'm sorry if it isn't up to my usual standard. Anyways…Rhea jumped without much pain for the first time! Isn't that great! However, she did have a kind of hangover after the experience. And there was so much sexual tension in this chapter. The Doctor is definitely attracted to Rhea, and Rhea just loves teasing and flirting with him. And there was a lot of flirting in this chapter, wasn't there? And I know there were a few _Grease _references. It is set in the 1950s, so I kind of used it, but it was sweet how the Doctor thought Rhea looked like Grace Kelly, wasn't it?

I hope you liked the fight scene in this chapter, it was really fun to write. Krav Maga is an actual self-defense system developed for the Israeli military, and the move that Rhea used is an actual move used in Krav Maga. And The Idiot's Lantern…that's gotta be one of my favourite episodes, one of the few that I liked Rose the entire way through. And I changed things around a bit. I wanted to make Rhea the one who had her face stolen by The Wire because I thought it would be more interesting to explore the Doctor's feelings in that situation. How angry will he be when he finds out what happened to Rhea? But don't worry, Rose is fine, we'll see what happens to her in the next chapter. Next chapter will be Rhea-lite but it will have a lot of possessive and protective Doctor, I can't wait!

Anyways, Read and Review!

And check out my Tumblr, the link is on my profile, but it's just my username . if you can't be bothered.


	19. The Idiot's Lantern: The Day The Earth

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, then I wouldn't be running out of disclaimers.

A/N: And here's the second chapter of _The Idiot's Lantern_. I wonder how the Doctor will react when he finds out that Rhea's face was stolen by The Wire. And what happened to Rose? Will she be all right? By the way, the title for this chapter comes from one of the first movies about aliens back in the 1950s. I thought it would be appropriate. And this is a very Rhea-lite episode, except for the last scene between the Doctor and Rhea. And I'm glad some of you seem to be following my Tumblr!

Notes on Reviews:

Mionerocks: I'm sorry your review didn't show up. The Wire had better run for it, the Oncoming Storm is coming for her. I'm glad you like the flirtation between Rhea and the Doctor, it's getting more serious.

YingWhiteyWolf: I'm so glad you think my story is that good! Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Rose myself, I do like her a lot, but she's not my favourite companion, but I'm not going to make her a bitch in this story, I'll probably make her jealous and bitchy in my Time Lady story though. Yeah, I try not to answer anything on my phone, cause it always ends up really bad, plus I can't type all that well on my phone. I'm glad you're feeling better, but again, if you want to talk, my inbox is always open.

Grapejuice101: Yeah, the Doctor will be _very_ angry when he finds out that it was Rhea who was taken. His thought process will be a bit whacked out in this chapter, his mind won't be all that clear. There are a few very fluffy bonding moments between the two at the end of the this chapter, so I hope you like it!

Beulah2013: I'm so glad you like her sarcasm. Rhea seems like the sort not to take crap from anyone. She's a very hard person but she's starting to care for the Doctor.

Queenylime2: Yes, the Oncoming Storm will be making an appearance in this chapter ;) I can't wait! Yeah, there was, Rhea was overly sexual in the previous chapter, she's getting very bold with him, you should see her in the next chapter. Rose won't be featured in this chapter all that much, except for the beginning, it'll be more focused on the Doctor trying to get Rhea back.

Gothic Immy: I'm happy you liked the chapter and I hope you like this one as well!

Hayleyrayxx: I'm so glad you like it!

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo…

_Italics – _Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

The Idiot's Lantern: The Day The Earth Stood Still

_He averted his eyes as Rhea's face was sucked into the screen, while the woman groaned in pain._

"_Goodnight, children. Everywhere." The Wire whispered, serenely, utterly and completely pleased with herself._

"Start from the beginning, tell me everything you know." The man in charge ordered the Doctor. He was standing over the Doctor, who was seated at the other side of the man's desk.

"Well... for starters... I know you can't wrap your hand around your elbow and make your fingers meet." The Doctor said, maintaining his serious expression.

The man pointed at him in a reprimanding manner. "Don't get clever with me. You were there today at Florizel Street, and now breaking into this establishment. Now, you're connected with this. Make no mistake." The man scowled.

"Well, the thing _is, _Detective Inspector Bishop-" The Doctor said, leaning forward.

"How do you know my name?" D.I. Bishop interjected.

"It's…written inside your collar." The Doctor said, mildly apologetic.

Bishop looked slightly embarrassed and adjusted his collar so that the label couldn't be seen.

"Bless your mum." The Doctor commented, before continuing. "But, I can't help thinking, Detective Inspector, you're not exactly doing much detective inspecting. Are you?"

"I'm doing everything in my power." Bishop said, defensively.

"All you're doing is grabbing those faceless people and hiding them as fast as you can. Don't tell me… orders from above, hmm?" The Doctor nodded, agreeing with himself. "Coronation Day... the eyes of the world are on London Town... so any sort of problem just gets swept out of sight." The Doctor was spinning from side to side in his chair, completely relaxed. When he took a look at the D.I's face, he looked slightly irritated, probably because the Doctor seemed to know all about their inside goings-on.

"The nation has an image to maintain." Bishop said, stiffly.

"Doesn't it drive you mad?" The Doctor asked, incredulously. "Doing nothing? Don't you wanna get out there and… investigate?"

"Course I do. But..." Bishop trailed off. He sat down, ready to confide in the Doctor. "With all the crowds expected, we haven't got the man-power. Even if we did... this is... beyond anything we've ever seen." He looked helpless and totally confused. He had no idea what was happening around here and no idea how to fix it. "I just don't know anymore. Twenty years on the force..." The Doctor leaned forwards, listening carefully. "... I don't even know where to start. We haven't the faintest clue what's going on."

"Well…" The Doctor drawled. "That could change."

"How?" Bishop frowned.

The Doctor stood, looking down at Detective Inspector Bishop, it looked as though their roles had been reversed from the beginning of their conversation.

"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know." The Doctor told him.

* * *

A black car pulled into the warehouse. Two men get out, one pulling someone covered in a blanket out of the back seat and leading the figure away, and the other carrying another person, this one awake and aware but confused and lightheaded, in their arms.

* * *

The Doctor and Bishop were standing by a large map on a stand.

"We started finding them about a month ago. Persons left sans visage. Heads just... blank." The detective explained.

The Doctor frowned, looking at the map, intently. "Is there any sort of pattern?" He examined a file he found on a nearby desk.

"Yes, spreading out from North London. All over the City. Men, women, kids... grannies... the only _real_ lead is there's been quite a large number in-"

"Florizel Street." The Doctor finished.

There was a knock on the door and the Doctor and Bishop looked up.

"Found another one, sir. And a girl, this one's awake." A policeman said.

"Oh, er - good man, Crabtree. Here we are, Doctor..."

He ushered in the blanket-covered figure. The Doctor felt as if something heavy had dropped into his stomach, his muscles weak, when he recognised the black and white striped pattern on the figure's skirt. She had made his mouth dry when he had first got a glimpse of her outfit, and she had known it. Rhea always knew what buttons to push. He looked down at honey skinned legs ending in tall black heels. The Doctor dropped the files on the table. He closed his eyes, briefly, before walking over and pulling the blanket off the figure's head. The Doctor's eyes widened with horror.

"Take a good look. See what you can deduce." Bishop said, not taking notice of the Doctor's reaction to the identity of the latest victim.

"Rhea." The Doctor croaked.

Bishop frowned. "Do you know her?"

"Know her. She's my…" He trailed off. He raised his hand and touched her black curls briefly before his arm fell back to his side, staring down at her featureless face. All the voices in the background faded out, utterly meaningless to him, his only purpose now was to find the thing that had taken Rhea's face and stop them. No matter what. He looked down at her, pained, when he saw absolutely no response on that beautiful face. Eyes that shined bright green when she was happy or darkened when she was furious or when she wanted him desperately, a nose that scrunched up adorably when she was confused and lips that widened into bright smiles or were bitten when she was hiding something from him. He wanted her to scream "Gotcha!" and throw her arms around him and maybe kiss him. Or maybe he'd kiss her in his relief, and she'd be mad at him for a minute, and maybe punch him, but then she'd kiss him back. It wasn't as if he thought Rhea's face was the only thing beautiful about her, he wasn't shallow, not about her at least. What made him furious was that they had taken everything that made her _Rhea. _It hurt. He needed her back. He need her back right now. And he was going to get her back.

No one would stop him.

Someone help them if they tried.

"They found them in the street, apparently, over at Master Square, abandoned." The policeman was telling Bishop.

The Doctor heard the first bit of that sentence. "Them?" He asked, not taking his eyes off Rhea for a second.

"There's a girl. She was unconscious when we found her, but she woke up while we were in the car. She's still a bit confused, though." The policeman told the Doctor.

"Where is she?" The Doctor asked.

"She's outside." The policeman went outside and pulled in a familiar looking girl with pink heels and a matching skirt.

"Rose." The Doctor said, with relief, as the blonde girl came closer and hugged him tight, her face wet with tears.

"She pushed me out of the way. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me out first." Rose sobbed into his shoulder.

The Doctor hugged her back, just as tight. He pulled back, looking Rose right in the eyes. "I'll get her back, Rose. I promise." _That's my Rhea, she'd only go out fighting._

"That's unusual, that's the first one out in the open, left in a street like that. Heaven help us if something happens in public tomorrow for the big day, we'll have Torchwood on our back, make no mistake." The Detective Inspector muttered to the other policemen.

The Doctor was staring at Rhea, heartbroken, when he heard Bishop speak, the man's words registering in his mind. "They did what?" The Doctor asked, icily, trembling with rage.

"I'm sorry." Bishop said, confused.

"They left her where?" The Doctor asked, with incredibly forced calm, but his voice was nearly a growl.

"Just…in the street." The D.I told the Doctor.

"In the street." The Doctor said, quietly, nodding. "They left her in the street." He exhaled. "They took her _face_ and just chucked her out and left her in the street." _They took her away from ME and just threw her out in the street. _His voice lowered to a snarl, the Oncoming Storm breaking from his shackles and rising to the surface. "And as a result, that makes things… _simple_. Very, _very_ simple. Do you know why?" He asked, finally tearing his eyes away from Rhea's blank face, taking his glasses off, turning to the other men and Rose.

"No…" The Detective Inspector said, slowly, suddenly terrified of the merciless man in front of him.

"Because, _now,_ Detective Inspector Bishop, there is no power in this universe that can stop me. Come on!" The Doctor shouted, practically spitting the words out furiously. Without a moment's hesitation, he made for the door, not even bothering to see if the men were following him. "Rose, stay with her." The Doctor ordered, not looking back for a second. _Get her back, NOW!_

* * *

The Doctor and Bishop burst out of the warehouse gates into new sunlight as the dawn of a new day approached.

"The big day dawns…" Bishop murmured.

The Doctor, however, did not give any indication that he had heard Bishop speak. Instead, he moved on immediately.

* * *

A small boy was fiddling with the television in the Connolly household while a little girl came over and slapped his hand away from the set. The room was crowded with people, friends and family, all chatting away, everyone eager to watch the coronation live on the television. Mr Connolly came through the front door, closing it behind him. Rita approached him and he looked down at her, menacingly.

His voice was low and threatening. "You've had your fun with your little Doctor... but now you're left with me, Rita. So you'll behave yourself. And smile."

Rita was entirely too scared to disobey him. She fixed a small, fake smile on her face, though if you looked closer, you could see her lips trembling. They entered the crowded living room together, all smiles.

"Here we go, everyone! Here we go! Grub's up, grub's up, tuck in, take a sandwich." Mr Connolly exclaimed to his guests. He squeezed into the room. The first footage of the coronation appeared on the screen. "Oh, here we go, here we go, it's started! Take your places, sit down, sit down."

They all settled themselves down in chairs or on the floor.

"Rita, love! Just _look _at that telly-box then, eh? Innit _marvelous_? The picture's so clear!" One of the older woman exclaimed to Rita, very impressed.

"Here, Beth, I says to Rita, I says, "You didn't need to get your hair done special, love! The Queen won't be able to see you!" Mr Connolly leaned forward to talk to her, Betty and Eddie laughing as he did so. Rita didn't look amused at all, but smiled politely anyways. Tommy looked affronted at this joke at his mother's expense.

"Where's your old mum, then? She can't go missing it!" Betty asked Rita.

Rita paled, not sure how she was going to manage this. "Sorry, um... mum can't make it down." She said, weakly.

Betty nodded. "Ahh, bless her. Maybe we could pop up and see her later." She offered.

Tommy took his chance. "Maybe you could. It's a good idea." He turned to his father. "What do you think, dad? _Maybe_ Aunty Betty could go and see gran later?"

Tommy hid his grin as his father fumed at him silently. Mr Connolly laughed it off to Betty. "Oh, he loves his gran, this one. Proper little mummy's boy all round!" Mr Connolly said, snarkily.

"Oh, you know what they say about _them__. _Eddie, you want to beat that out of him." Betty said.

Eddie laughed. "That's exactly what I'm gonna do." He promised, throwing Tommy a threatening look.

The doorbell rung.

"I'll get it." Tommy said. He went to answer the door, leaving everyone else watching the television.

He opened the door, and the Doctor stood there with Detective Inspector Bishop.

"Tommy, talk to me." The Doctor, shortly.

Tommy stepped outside the door, closing it behind him.

"I need to know exactly what happened inside your house." The Doctor said, the tension apparent in his body, barely controlling himself.

Eddie pulled the door open violently and rounded on Tommy.

"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Eddie snarled, roughly.

"I wanna help, dad." Tommy retorted.

"Mr Connolly…" The Doctor began, warningly, barely controlling himself.

The man rounded on him. "Shut your face, you. Whoever you are. We can handle this ourselves." He spat. He turned back to Tommy. "Listen you, little twerp. You're hardly out of the bloomin' cradle, so I don't expect you to understand. But I've got a position to maintain." The Doctor and Bishop just watched him. "People round here _respect _me. It _matters_ what people _think_."

"Is that why you did it, dad?" Tommy asked him. He had looked at the Doctor carefully when he had opened the door, the man's eyes were wild and dangerous, angry and terrified, and he was missing the two women he was with before, Rhea and Rose he had introduced them as.

Eddie was taken aback. "What d'you mean? Did what?"

Tommy drew himself up to his full height. "You ratted on gran. How else would the police know where to look? Unless some coward told them..."

Eddie bristled with anger.

The Doctor barely managed to keep himself from letting out a furious sigh. _I don't have time for this!_ A much darker part of him raged, screaming at him to get rid of Mr. Connolly, the only obstacle in his way at the moment.

"How _dare _you? You think I fought a war just so a mouthy little scum like you could call me a coward?" Eddie raged at his son, practically spitting in his anger.

Tommy shook his head, unable to believe that he was related to someone so narrow-minded. "You don't get it, do you? You fought _against _fascism, remember? People telling you how to live, who you could be friends with, who you could fall in love with, who could live and who had to die. Don't you get it? You were fighting so that little twerps like me could _do _what we want. _Say_ what we want. Now you've become just like them." Tommy realised something with horror and disbelief. "You've been informing on everyone, haven't you? _Even gran_. All to protect your precious reputation."

Rita paled as she heard the words her son was saying, slowly coming into view.

"Eddie…is that true?" Rita whispered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Eddie turned around, like a deer caught in headlights. "I did it for _us_, Rita! She was _filthy_. A filthy, disgusting _thing_."

Rita was stunned. "She's my mother." Rita said, quietly. "All the others, you informed on all the people in our street, our friends."

"I had to!" Eddie defended. He flailed slightly. "I did the right thing...!"

Rita frowned. "The right thing for us... or for you, Eddie?"

Eddie just stared at her. Rita turned to Tommy, ignoring Eddie. "You go, Tommy. You go with the Doctor and do some good. Get away from this house. It's poison." She hissed. She glared at her husband. "We had a ruddy monster under this roof, all right, but it weren't my mother!" Close to tears, she stepped back inside, slamming the door in Eddie's face.

"Tommy?" The Doctor said, quietly.

Tommy, the Doctor and the Detective Inspector walked away, down the street, leaving Eddie alone, locked outside his house.

* * *

The streets were busy as the neighbours prepared a street party to celebrate the Coronation. The Doctor, Bishop and Tommy walked along the pavement.

"Tommy, tell me about that night. The night she changed." The Doctor said.

"She was just watching the telly." Tommy told him.

The Doctor looked at the roofs of all of the buildings with realisation, staring at the TV aerials. "Rose said it. She guessed it straight away, of _course _she did. All these aerials in one little street, how come?" The Doctor asked Tommy.

"Bloke up the road, Mr Magpie, he's selling them cheap." Tommy told him.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Rhea was looking at him strangely when we met him yesterday morning. She _knew_ he was up to something and she went after him." _Of course she did, it's Rhea. Reckless thing she is. _Without waiting for Tommy or the detective, he ran off down the road in the direction that Tommy had pointed him towards.

"Is he, now?" Bishop asked Tommy, suspiciously.

The Doctor looked back, annoyed at their sluggishness. "Come on!" He yelled.

* * *

The Doctor slammed his fist into the glass of Magpie's door when he couldn't gain entry to the shop. He reached in, ignoring the pain from his bloody, sliced knuckles, and unlocked the door from the inside, so that he could open the door.

"Here, you can't do that-" Bishop protested.

The Doctor ignored him, a constant chant rushing through his head. _GetRheabacksaveherhelpherIneedhersaveRheabymysidealways_

He stormed towards the counter. "Shop!" He shouted. He slammed his palm on the bell, which was on the counter, repeatedly, not caring about the painful indent it made on his hand. He shouted to the back of the shops. "If you're here, come out and talk to me! MAGPIE?" He roared.

"Maybe he's out." Tommy tried, scared of the Doctor's fury.

"Looks like it…" He growled.

He started ripping apart the drawers behind the counter. He found a device that looked like a mix between a portable radio and a television in one of them.

"Oh, hello... this isn't right. This is very much not right." He muttered to himself. He raised the device and, to the surprise of Tommy and Bishop, gave a long lick across the length of it. He gagged. "Tastes like iron. Bakelite." He placed it back down on the counter. "Put together with human hands, yes, but the design itself..." He scanned it with his sonic screwdriver. He needed to know more about the device, and immediately. "Oh, beautiful work. That is so simple."

Bishop was gobsmacked. "That's incredible. It's like a television, but portable. A portable television!"

The Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver, pointing it around the room, and all of the televisions on display turned on to static.

"It's not the only power source in this room..."

As the screwdriver whirred, the static gradually faded away and a different face appeared on each of the screens, each one of the victims, all the faces of people who were taken by The Wire. They all looked terrified, mouthing pleas for help. The Doctor looked around them, brow furrowed, looking for something or someone in particular. Tommy noticed his grandmother's face in one of them.

"Gran?" Tommy whispered, looking horrified.

The Doctor, who had been looking for her, found Rhea's face on one of the screens closest to the door. She was mouthing his name over and over again. He knelt before the screen, his eyes pained, sad, intense and vengeful. His fingers touched the screen that displayed Rhea's scared yet determined face. "I'm on my way. I'll get you back, I promise." _There's nothing that could stop me from getting you back. _

"What do you think you're doing?" The Doctor heard Magpie shout from the back of the shop.

The Doctor rounded on him, his face dark, furious and thunderous. "Someone _incredibly_ precious and important to me has had her face taken from her and I want her restored, now! I think that's beyond a little backstreet electrician, so tell me, who's really in charge here?" The Doctor growled, almost grabbing the man by his shirt collar and shoving him against the wall in his uncontrollable rage.

Magpie flinched at his anger.

"Yoohoo! I think that must be me." The Wire said, appearing on one of the screens. The Doctor turned to her, clearly not expecting this. "Ooh, this one's smart as paint."

The Doctor approached the Wire.

"Is she talking to us?" Bishop asked the Doctor, getting closer to the television screen as well.

"Sorry gentlemen, I'm... I'm afraid you've brought this on yourselves. May I introduce you to my new... friend." Magpie stuttered, with false bravado.

"Jolly nice to meet you." The Wire said.

"Oh my God, it's her, that woman off the telly." Detective Inspector Bishop said with wide eyes.

The Doctor shook his head in the negative. "No, it's just using her image."

"What..." Tommy trailed off, confused. "What are you?" Tommy whispered.

"I'm the Wire, and I will gobble you up, pretty boy." Tommy recoiled at her words. "Every last morsel. And when I have feasted, I shall regain the corporeal body, which my fellow-kind denied me." The Wire purred, while her screen gradually colourised.

"Good Lord, colour television!" Bishop exclaimed.

The Doctor pursed his lips, pushing aside his fear and anger so that he could get more information about the alien. He needed to know everything if he was going to get her back. "I won't let you get that far." The Doctor said, in a clipped voice. "The mistake you made was taking her, you shouldn't have done that, now I _will _stop you, whatever it takes." He paused, getting his emotions under control before continuing. "So your own people tried to stop you?" He growled.

"They executed me." The Wire hissed with barely concealed anger and disgust. "But I escaped, in this form, and fled across the stars." She said, proudly.

"And now you're trapped in the television." The Doctor said, mockingly.

The smirk faded away from the Wire's face, and with it, the colour from the television, reverting back to black and white.

"Not for much longer." The Wire hissed.

"Is this what got my gran?" Tommy asked, looking at the Doctor.

"Yes, Tommy. It feeds off the electrical activity of the brain, but it _gorges_ itself like a _great overfed pig_. Taking people's faces, their _essences_, it _stuffs_ itself." The Doctor snarled.

"And you let her do it, Magpie." The detective said, looking over at the frightened man, who still had his back stuck to the wall.

"I had to!" Magpie said, defensively. "She allowed me my face! She's promised to release me at the time of manifestation."

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.

"The appointed time, my crowning glory." The Wire hinted.

"Doctor," The detective's eyes widened. "The coronation!"

"For the first time in history, millions gathered around a television set." The Doctor explained. A smile formed on his face when he realised something, though. He approached the television set. "But you're not strong enough yet, are you? You can't do it all from here. That's why you need this!" He gloated, producing the portable television. "You need something more powerful! This will turn a big transmitter into a big receiver."

The Wire smiled. "What a clever thing you are! But why fret about it? Why not just relax? Kick off your shoes and enjoy the coronation. Believe me, you'll be glued to the screen." She purred.

Lines of red, glinting light suddenly attempted to pull all three faces, the Doctor's, Tommy's and the Inspector's, into the Wire's television set.

"Doctor!" Tommy and Bishop shouted.

"Hungry! Hungry! The Wire is hungry! Ah! This one is tasty." The Wire yelled, addressing the Doctor. "Oh! I'll have lashings of him! Delicious! Ah!"

The Doctor slowly pulled out his sonic screwdriver, fighting against the power of the light with a great deal of effort, his fists clenched hard around the metal as he struggled. _Have…to…stop…her._ Pain raged through his mind despite his best efforts to push through it.

The Wire's eyes widened when she realised what was in his hands. "Armed! He's armed and clever! Withdraw! Withdraw!" She screeched and severed the connection between herself and them, withdrawing the red lights, and all three of them fell to the floor, unconscious, exhausted from their ordeal.

"The box, Magpie, the box!" The Wire screamed.

Magpie ran and retrieved the box, from where it had fallen at the Doctor's side. He held it up to the screen which displayed the Wire.

"Hold tight…" She whispered. She jumped via a red light into the portable television. "Conduct me to my victory, Magpie." She purred.

Magpie ran out of his shop, dashing outside and into his van, putting the portable television, with the Wire's face still displayed on it, behind the steering wheel, so he could still see her clearly.

"Hungry! Hungry! Feed me!" The Wire screamed.

* * *

When the Doctor woke up from blackness, he saw Tommy and the Detective on the floor, unconscious as well, the latter's face missing. _He mustn't have escaped the light quick enough_. He looked towards the television screens to see all of them were blank, even the one that had held the Wire, and Magpie was missing, along with the portable television at his side. He looked briefly at the television that had displayed Rhea's face and touched it briefly. He turned to Tommy.

Tommy, wake up! Tommy! Come on!" The Doctor shouted, shaking at him.

"What happened?" Tommy said, blearily, as he sat up.

"Where's Magpie?" The Doctor asked, looking around.

They both ran outside the shop and saw that the car that was previously out the front was missing.

"We don't even know where to start looking, it's too late." Tommy said, helplessly.

The Doctor ran his fingers through his gelled back hair in frustration. "It's never too late, as a wise person once said, Kylie, I think...if it's too late, I can't get her back and that mean's she's gone. I won't settle for that. The Wire's got a big plan... so it'll need... yes, yes, yes, it's got to harness half the population... millions and millions of people..." He muttered, his mind rambling as he forced himself to focus on the issue at hand. "Where are we?" The Doctor asked, looking around.

"Muswell Hill."

"Muswell Hill." He muttered. His eyes widened. "Muswell Hill!" He exclaimed. "Which means…" He looked around, frantically, until he spotted a large building situated on the horizon and gestured at it with shaking hands. "Alexandra Palace - biggest TV transmitter in North London! Oh! That's why they chose this place!" The Doctor shouted. "Tommy?" He asked, turning to the young boy.

"What are you going to do?" Tommy asked.

The Doctor dashed back inside Magpie's shop. "We're going shopping." He crowed.

Tommy joined him inside.

They started gathering equipment from all over the shop. Tommy held up a device. "Is this what you want?" He asked.

The Doctor's glinted with feral pleasure. "Perfect! Right, I need one more thing." He gave the large pile of equipment to Tommy.

* * *

Tommy and the Doctor ran out onto the streets, both grasping heavy, large piles of equipment.

"Got it, let's go." The Doctor said.

They ran down a street, the Doctor plugging a device into the massive equipment bundle that Tommy was carrying. While they were running, Tommy spotted Magpie on the pylon.

"There!" Tommy shouted, pointing at the man.

The Doctor growled. "Come on!"

"Woah, Woah, woah! Where do you think-" An official, who was covering the cronoation, protested.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and pulled out his psychic paper, brandishing the black wallet at the man.

"Oh! I'm sorry sir! Shouldn't you be at the coronation?" The official asked.

"They're saving me a seat." The Doctor muttered.

The official nodded, confusedly.

"Who did he think you were?" Tommy asked the Doctor, with a grin, when they rounded a corner.

"King of Belgium, apparently." The Doctor said, looking at the psychic paper, briefly.

* * *

In the control room of Alexandra Palace, the Doctor dashed around, gathering the equipment he needed, and Tommy was in front of a video machine and television screen.

"Keep it switched on. Don't let anyone stop you, Tommy. Everything depends on it. You understand?" The Doctor told Tommy. "Everyone is counting _on you_. Rhea, your gran, everyone who's had their face stolen is counting on you." The Doctor said, his eyes hard and serious, his hands on Tommy's shoulders, hoping that the boy would understand the severe situation.

Tommy nodded.

The Doctor sprinted back around the corner, past the confused official, trailing a stream of magnetic recording tape behind him from a reel around his waist. He ran up the metal stairs and begins climbing up the transmitter, following Magpie.

"You'll get yourself killed up there! Your Majesty!" The official shouted after him.

But the Doctor didn't stop for a minute.

Magpie had already reached the mains plug.

"Feed me!" The Wire screeched from the receiver.

Magpie plugged the portable television into the main current and the Wire cackled, triumphantly. Across the country, TV aerials drew in the bright crimson sparks emitted from the pylon. The people, who were watching the television at that moment, started to be sucked in by the red electricity.

"Oh! Feast! Feast... ing! The Wire... is feasting." The Wire screamed.

"It's too late! It's too late for all of us!" Magpie yelled at the Doctor, who was approaching them.

"I shall consume you…Doctor." The Wire hissed.

The Doctor was blasted in the face with the red light and he cried out, gripping onto the metal of the aerial with a terrifyingly strong grip so that he wouldn't fall.

"I won't let you do this, Magpie!" The Doctor shouted at the terrified man.

"Help me Doctor! It burns! It took my face, my soul!" The man howled.

"You cannot stop the Wire. Soon I shall become manifest." The Wire said.

The Doctor was blasted again and gritted her teeth.

"No more of this! You promised me peace!" Magpie cried out.

"And peace you shall have." The Wire whispered, serenely.

Magpie was blown into thousands of particles with the red light, with the Wire laughing as he screamed and died. The Doctor reached out a hand and tried to touch the portable television but his fingers were zapped by the red sparks on his hand.

"Been burning the candle at both ends? You've overextended yourself missus. You shouldn't have had a crack at poor old Magpie there." The Doctor snarled and picked up the TV, as he was zapped in the foot. He shook his head. "Rubber souls! Swear by them!" He inserted a switch into the TV, but nothing changed in the Wire at all.

"Oh dear! Has our little plan gone horribly wrong, Doctor?" The Wire hissed.

The Wire laughed as the Doctor stared at her, horrified and his face pale. _No, it can't be. Rhea…_

Suddenly, the Doctor watched as the light beams retreated from the pylons, right back into the Wire's portable television. She writhed and wailed with pain, thwarted.

"It's closed down, I'm afraid, and no epilogue." The Doctor growled.

With one last piercing shriek from the Wire, the television switched off, displaying black. The Doctor stared at it for a moment, then closed his eyes in relief.

* * *

Tommy was watching the coronation on one of the screens when the Doctor returned back to Alexandra Palace.

"What have I missed?" The Doctor asked, coming up to him.

"Doctor!" Tommy exclaimed when he saw the man, spinning on his feet, smiling a little whne he could see the relief in the man's eyes. "What happened?"

"Sorted. Electrical creature, TV technology, clever alien life form, that's me by the way. I turned the receiver back into a transmitter and I trapped the Wire in here." The Doctor said, patting the videotape with triumph. "I just invented the home video 30 years earlier. Betamax." He said, proudly. He noticed the TV and the footage of the coronation that it was displaying. "Oh look! God save the Queen, eh?" He said to Tommy, with a smile.

* * *

"Whoa!" Rhea said, blinking suddenly, taking slow deep breaths, frowning. Her hands reached up and slid across the smooth skin of her face, touching her lips, the bridge of her nose and ghosting over her eyelids briefly. She breathed a sigh of relief. _Everything's back._

Rose rushed to her, throwing her arms around her, Rhea returning the embrace, surprised. Rose pulled back and gripping her arms tightly. It was only then did she feel the heaviness in her limbs, as if she had slept for a week. She gave Rose a smile of gratitude and used her help to stand, the girl keeping her hands on her until she could stand without fear of crumpling.

"What happened?" Rhea asked Rose, rubbing her forehead.

"The Wire took your face and Magpie knocked me out." Rhea winced when she heard the last bit. She had tried her best to make sure Rose had left the electrical shop before her face was taken, but she guessed the opposite had happened. "Then, the policemen brought us here, where they were keeping everyone else whose face had been stolen. When the Doctor saw you like that, he sort of lost it…" She trailed off.

Rhea frowned. "Lost it how?"

"Well, I think he went after the Wire, back to Magpie's shop. I didn't actually get a chance to tell him about Magpie and the Wire." Rose said, sheepishly. "But your face is back, so that means he figured it all out." Rose said, rubbing the back of her neck. "He told me to stay with you."

Rhea sighed. _Idiot._ "Well, we better go and find him, don't you think." Rhea said, shaking her head to relieve her confusion, and reached out, taking Rose's hand and pulling her out of the room and out of the warehouse.

* * *

Tommy and the Doctor returned to Florizel Street, where large amounts of people milled around and met terrified and grateful loved ones.

"Gran!" Tommy shouted, spotting an old, grey-haired woman in the crowed.

"Look, it's my grandson! Oh son!" His grandmother cried.

Tommy ran towards her and threw his arms around her.

The Doctor looked around himself, looking for black heels and a striped skirt or a pink heels and a matching poofy skirt. He smiled when he saw Rose's blonde hair first, the latter smiling widely at him. His face turned into a full-blown beam when he caught sight of the brunette standing next to her, her back to him. He started striding purposefully towards her.

Rhea spun on her heels when she heard Tommy's familiar voice and Rose's resulting tap on her shoulder, her eyes searching the crowds for familiar, lovely brown hair and a brown, pinstripe suit. When Rhea did see him, his face was beaming, he had just caught sight of her as well, his grin was wide, showing all teeth, as he walked purposefully towards her, a little like just before he had gone onto the Sontaran ship. She started walking towards him, a bright, beautiful smile forming on her plump red lips, as the heels of her pumps clacked against the concrete pavement. She strode quicker, stretching out her arms, getting frustrated with herself and with him when the distance between them didn't seem to shorten.

"You're going to have to hurry up, honey." Rhea called out. "I'm too slow because this skirt is too damn tight." She was ashamed to say that she had practically sobbed the words out, her ordeal during the day had screwed with her head and she was desperate to get his arms around her, to touch him in some sort of way.

Finally, the gap between them closed and he used the space given to him by her outstretched arms to lift her up in a tight hug, hauling her up against his body, his hands tightening around her waist. She grinned into his shoulder, her arms coming around him, clutching onto his shoulders. He squeezed her tightly and then swung around, making her shriek with laughter.

"Oh, I've missed you!" Rhea said, fondly, resting her head on his shoulder, her feet still off the ground, her heels pointing in the air. When they came back down, Rhea locked her ankles around the back of his legs so that she could keep her height. It was uncomfortable but it was the best she could do in this stupid skirt. On a good day, with all use of her legs, she might have wrapped her legs around his waist for good support. This position, at least, satisfied her need for contact, which she relished, happily. Not that she would ever admit that to him.

"I missed you too." He mumbled into neck, nuzzling in and pressing kisses to the side of her head. "I thought I'd lost you." He whispered. "Don't ever do that again, got it?" The Doctor said, roughly.

Rhea snorted. "Yeah, cause getting my face stolen by an alien in a television is totally on my to-do list." Her voice softened and she dropped the sarcasm, realising his need for reassurance. "You didn't, though." Rhea smiled, pulling back and cupping his face with her hand, her thumb stroking his cheekbone. "You saved me, you idiot."

The Doctor grumbled, although staggered by her faith in him. This Rhea hadn't even known him that long. "Do you always have to end a sentence with an insult?"

Rhea grinned at him. "Yes." She nodded, then pouted. "It's not an insult, it's a term of endearment for me, like when I call you 'honey'."

The Doctor groaned and simply hugged her again, squeezing her tight, making her squeak. "Oh, it doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're all right."

Rhea pulled back again. "Do I always get a free pass when I'm in life-threatening danger?" Rhea asked with a quirk of her lips.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "The amount of times you put yourself in life-threatening danger? No way."

Rhea shrugged. "Worth a try." She smiled into his shoulder, hugging him back tightly. _Just for this moment, I can have this. Right now, I need him._ Rhea felt him flinch when her hands dragged down his arms and gripped his hands. She pulled back with a frown and looked down, her eyes widening when she noticing the bloody scrapes and cuts on his knuckles. "What did you do? Put your fist through a freaking wood chipper." Rhea exclaimed, pulling them up towards her so that she could examine them.

"Um, no, actually." The Doctor mumbled, sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I broke the glass window of Magpie's shop so that I could get in."

Rhea pursed her lips to hide her smile and then shook her head turning serious. "We need to put some antiseptic on those cuts and clean the glass from it. Has the bleeding stopped?" Rhea asked him, sternly. When the Doctor nodded his assent, she continued. "I'll stitch it up when we get back to the TARDIS. Idiot." She muttered, fondly.

The Doctor smiled down at her. "It'll be fine. Time Lord superior biology, remember? It'll heal." He said.

"I'm still stitching it up. It'll make me feel better." Rhea told him.

"Okay." He agreed, his voice soft, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side and leading her back to Rose and the party.

Out on the streets, music from the Fifties was playing, people dancing and talking out on the street. Long trestle tables lined the centre of the road, covered in pastries, cakes, puddings, pies, drinks, and more. The Doctor, Rhea and Rose walked down the tables.

"We could go down the mall, join in with the crowd." Rose suggested.

"Nah," The Doctor said, shaking his head and taking a bite out of a Victoria Sponge. "That's just pomp and circumstance. This is history right here."

Rhea smirked. "The domestic approach."

The Doctor laughed. "Exactly." He said, making the two women laugh as well.

"Will it... that thing... is it trapped for good… on video?" Rose asked.

"Hope so. Just to be on the safe side though, I'll use my unrivalled knowledge of trans temporal extirpation methods to neutralise the residual electronic pattern." The Doctor said, dramatically.

Rose frowned. "You what?" She asked, confused.

Rhea's eyebrows furrowed. "I sort of understood that. You're going to take it out of the video tape, right. How?" Rhea asked, looking at him.

"I'm going to tape over it." The Doctor told them.

"Ah!" Rhea made a sound of understanding.

Rose laughed. "Just leave it to me, I'm always doing that."

Rhea smoothed her hands down her skirt. "You know, while I dig the way I look in this outfit, I'm still not sure about the skirt."

The Doctor eyed her. "I think you look great." The Doctor said, innocently.

"Aha!" Rhea shrieked. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I knew you'd been checking my ass out in this skirt." Rhea hissed, triumphantly.

The Doctor looked insulted. "I have not!" He hissed. To be truthful, he had, but he'd never admit it to her, at least not this her. She might shoot him.

Rhea scoffed. "Yeah, right." She wagged her finger at him.

Rose cleared her throat. "Why aren't you sure about the skirt?" Rose asked, directing her question at Rhea.

"Well, Women's Liberation gave us pants and a fair wage. I figure I should make the most of it." Rhea told her.

They ran into Tommy, who was standing near one of the tables.

"Tell you what Tommy, you can have my scooter. Little present. Best... um... keep it in the garage for a few years though, eh?" The Doctor whispered, conspiratorially, to him, while leaning against the table.

Rhea looked in the direction Tommy was and saw his father walking down the street with his suitcase as Rita embraced her mother, warmly.

"Good riddance." Tommy said, looking over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Is that it then, Tommy? New monarch, new age, new world, no room for a man like Eddie Connelly." The Doctor said.

"That's right. He deserves it." Tommy agreed, then looked down. Rhea looked at Rose, both being able to tell the undercurrent of hesitation in the boy's harsh words.

"Tommy, go after him." Rose encouraged, quietly, nudging his shoulder.

"What for?" Tommy asked her, frowning.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "He's your dad."

"He's an idiot." Tommy corrected.

"Of course he is," Rhea smiled. "Like Rose said, he's your dad. Like I said, he's your dad. But you're smart. Smart enough to save the world so don't stop there. Teach him how to be a better man." Rhea leaned closer to Tommy, her voice at a pitch only Tommy could hear. "My dad died ten years ago, ten miserable years where I think about some argument or fight or problem where I could have done something different. There doesn't go a day by where I don't think about him…or miss him." She told him, a sad smile on her face. "Go on!" She nudged him as well.

Tommy gave her a smile and ran after his father. They walked side by side and Tommy took his father's suitcase for him, the two of them continuing down the street together. The Doctor, Rose and Rhea watched them from a distance, fondly, Rhea having a bittersweet smile on her face as she came to terms with watching the burgeoning relationship between the two men and her own pain and heartache. She gratefully took the glass of cool orange juice from the Doctor and three of them clunk their glasses together, smiling.

* * *

Rhea sat on the scooter, which she had parked back inside the room in which she had found it. She was all alone, Rose having returned to her room a little while ago and the Doctor tinkering with the TARDIS in the console room. She looked over at the Sportster, sitting in the corner and walked over to him, dragging her hand across the leather seat. She looked at the compartment in the centre of the vehicle. She hesitated and opened the compartment. She paled when she looked inside. An old watch, her grandfather's, a little prayer book, her grandmother's, and a gold ring, her father's. She picked up the ring and twirled it around with her fingers, swallowing hard.

"Rhea, are you in here?" The Doctor asked, coming into the room. He paused when he saw her at the Sportster. "You okay?" He asked, cautiously. She always got a bit emotional when she saw the motorcycle and he didn't think she'd ever seen it on the TARDIS before.

Rhea blinked back tears and looked at him. "This, um, this is _actually_ my uncle's bike." She said to him, frowning. "I mean," She swallowed. "It's got the same scratch marks from when I crashed it when I was fourteen."

"Hmm, yes, it is." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Rhea's eyebrows furrowed. "But my uncle's bike was stolen when I was twenty-one. He parked it on the street instead of inside the gate and the next morning it was gone." Rhea's eyes widened. "Did _you_ steal it?"

"Well…." He drawled. "It wasn't more _me_ as it was _us._" He said, sheepishly.

Rhea smiled widely and then started laughing madly. "_I_ stole my uncle's motorbike. I got so angry when it was stolen. I was cursing the person who did it for months!" She said and giggled.

The Doctor saw what she was holding in her hand. Her father's ring. He slowly walked up to her and they both took a seat on the bike.

"Your father's ring?" The Doctor said, motioning towards it.

Rhea rolled her eyes, but without any real malice. "Figures you'd know." She looked down at it. "It's just with Tommy and his father today and the whole face stolen event, I think my emotions are a little out of whack." Rhea shrugged. "Maybe it's hormones."

"You were thinking about your father." The Doctor guessed.

Rhea nodded, looking at him, briefly, before turning away. This conversation would be better handled if she didn't look him in the eye when she was talking.

"This _stupid_ ring." Rhea whispered, looking down at the object in question. She smiled when she remembered something. "It used to piss me off when I was a little girl." She started, pursing her lips a little. "It was his father's, and he was the eldest, so he got it, it always went to the eldest son, he said. I always wondered what that would mean with me, would he give it to me or would he give it to my cousin, he was the only boy in our generation. He used to take it off sometimes, if he was gardening or cleaning, and he'd leave it on the dresser. I'd sneak into my parents' room after he was gone and I'd try on the ring. But it would keep falling off and I'd get more frustrated every time it did." Rhea exhaled. "It's here. I wasn't expecting it to be here."

"You told me your uncle brought it back to India with him after your father passed away." The Doctor told her.

Rhea shook her head. "Yeah, sorry, I remember." She reached up and rubbed her temples. She looked over to the Doctor to see that he was watching her. She bit her lip. "Thank you." She whispered.

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. "For what?"

Rhea smiled. "For saving my life." She leaned over and pressed her lips to his check, softly, for a few seconds, then pulled back, smiling shyly. _You stupid bitch, you're done for._ A voice raged in her mind, urging her, begging her to pull back. _You'll get hurt and you've got no one left to pick up the pieces, you moron._

"Just don't do it again." The Doctor said, knocking her shoulder with his, a bright grin on his face. She could see all of his teeth, gleaming white, his brown eyes lit up like fireworks on New Year's Eve.

"If I do it again, are you not going to save me? What kind of knight in shining armour are you?" Rhea asked, playfully, knocking his shoulder back.

"Of course I'll save you." The Doctor said, seriously. The absolute sincerity in his voice made her look away from him, closing her eyes. "But…" His trailing off forced her to look back at him. "You don't need me to save you all the time. But when you do need me, I'll be there." He promised.

Rhea beamed. "Really?" She asked him, quietly, her breath a little short. She was still not sure whether she could believe him or not.

"Really."

* * *

A/N: And, there was the end to _The Idiot's Lantern. _I hope you liked the Doctor's characterisation in this chapter, I was thinking of how he acted in the actual episode when Rose had her face taken and added a bit more to it, seeing as Rhea's a much older "friend". He came out as very protective in this chapter, but he knows he doesn't have to protect her all the time, she's fully capable of protecting herself. I hope you liked the Doctor's thought process in this chapter, especially after he finds out what happened to Rhea. I figured his thoughts would be very choppy and clipped and totally focused on finding Rhea and getting her back, even that he would have a hard time focusing.

I hope you liked the reunion scene between the Doctor and Rhea. I loved writing that scene, I must have edited it a million times before adding it to the chapter. I tried to mix the emotions as a mix of desperation and relief for both of them. Rhea was traumatised by her ordeal in this episode. She hasn't had anything that serious happen to her yet and the Doctor's always been with her. This was the first time something like this has happened to her and I figured she's be ecstatic and desperate to see the Doctor again, that's why I gave them a lot of touchy-feely affection in this chapter.

Rhea is warming up to him, she's letting a few of her walls down but she's still terrified of the Doctor and what he means to her. She doesn't have a very good view of herself and she doesn't seem to trust herself either, that's going to play a big part in their upcoming romance. And I hope you liked the little clue I gave you into Rhea's past. Her relationship with her father and uncle and cousin play a huge part in the way she acts now. Her father's death had a big effect on her and more of that will be shown in the future.

Oh, and a question, in my Time Lady story, if I had my Time Lady the one who gets her face stolen by The Wire, do you think that would be repeating what happens in this story?

Anyway, Read and Review!


	20. Days of Wine and Roses

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 20

Disclaimer: To be honest, I'm running out of witty/funny disclaimers. I don't own Doctor Who, just Rhea, sorry.

A/N: And we have another chapter with the Tenth Doctor! And this is going to be a fun one! Don't worry, I will be doing an episode with the Eleventh Doctor very soon, not the next episode but the one after that, I promise. This chapter will only start _The Fires of Pompeii_ at the end, most of it though will be entirely original.

Notes on Reviews:

Mionerocks: I'm glad you like the chapter! She is opening up a bit more to the Doctor. I think she's doing that because she figures he knows everything about her already. The relationship between Rose and the TL can't really be said now, they won't have a good relationship, but the TL will be hospitable towards Rose, because of the Doctor. I like your idea about having Rose's face stolen, but I suppose it would depend on what happened before that for me to make a decision. I haven't even started writing that story yet.

Tooclosefortety: I'm so glad you liked my characterisation of the Doctor in this chapter. I loved writing him as the Oncoming Storm. I think if my Time Lady's face got stolen, it would be a little similar, but the Doctor would be much more Oncoming Storm because of the nature of their relationship (but I can't tell you what their relationship is, spoilers!). Rose would be very confused and jealous of the way he was acting.

Areus Bookworm: Welcome to the story (unless of course you've reviewed before under a different username, then sorry)! Thank you so much! I'm blushing as we speak. The Doctor and Rhea will start getting close from now on, as you saw in the last chapter, some of Rhea's walls are breaking down. _The Doctor's Wife_ will be an interesting episode, but I don't plan on it being anytime soon, because I want Rhea to have forgotten what she said to the TARDIS, so she'd be extra surprised if Idris punched her. I'll give you a hint, the first Season 3 episode I'm going to do is _The Shakespeare Code_, and it will be the next episode after _The Fires of Pompeii_, so very soon, probably by the end of the week. _Human Nature_ will be very nice, I have a different plan for _Human Nature_ and I really can't wait to write it, it'll be instrumental in the Doctor and Rhea's relationship. _Blink _won't be for awhile, I wanted Rhea to meet the Weeping Angels before _Blink_. But Season 3 will be an important season in the first section of this story.

Beulah2013: I know, their interaction in the last chapter was really cute :) I loved writing their reunion scene, it was so fun!

Nights Eternal Dream: Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I'm so glad you like Rhea, I tried to make sure that she was aware of what the Doctor felt towards her, especially since the first time she met him, he mentioned a "bedroom thing". She's just not willing to accept what she knows is true. Yeah, I didn't mind Rose is Season 1 and 2, she wasn't my favourite character but she wasn't horrible (for the most part), but my main problem came in Season 4. She just sort of showed up acting like she knew everything, and I do understand that she knew quite a bit of the problem because her parallel world was ahead of the normal universe, but she just kept acting like she was the Doctor and that didn't sit right with me. And people kept defending her jealous comment to Martha, I don't think there's any justification. The Daleks were trying to destroy reality, that was no time for her jealousy. I love River as a character (she's Doctor Who's Lara Croft), and I like her and the Doctor together, but I felt like their relationship was too rushed, I wish we could have seem how their relationship played out. I thought the wedding scene was a bit fake but I could see that he honestly did care for her. I can accept her being Amy and Rory's daughter but I feel like they just put that in to tie everything together, I would have felt better about that if Amy and Rory had gotten some bonding time with River, especially Rory. Your interpretation of Rhea's interaction with the 11th Doctor was what I was trying to go for. I felt like she'd be a bit wary about all of these new companions (not with Rose, because she meets Rose quite early in Season 1), she still hasn't met Amy, but their meeting will be different, because I feel like Amy was central to the 11th Doctor's character, so Rhea's relationship with Amy would be a bit closer, much more like hers and Donna's. Rhea definitely has a thing for redheads ;) I think Rhea likes Clara, she was the first companion she met, and when I do more episodes with Clara, she'll be more affectionate. Clara's the first one that Rhea gave a nickname to and I think they'd have a big sister-little sister kind of relationship.

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo, slight sexual imagery.

_Italics –_ Rhea's thoughts/The Doctor's thoughts

* * *

Days of Wine and Roses

"You know what I need after an ordeal like that?" Rhea asked, walking into the console room, having changed into a dark blue sari and black sequined spaghetti-strapped blouse. "A drink." The Doctor opened his mouth, just a little stunned by her outfit, but used to the way she dressed. "And I don't mean juice or some new-fangled alien drink. I mean, proper alcohol, mind-numbing, hangover-inducing alcohol. I want to drink until I can't feel feelings anymore. I don't care if it's on some random planet in the 92nd century, I just want to go to a bar and get drunk." Rhea told him. She paused. "And maybe dance."

The Doctor sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. "Any planet okay with you?" The Doctor asked, going around a pressing the button to start up the rotor of the TARDIS.

Rhea gave him a sweet smile. "Any planet. I just need alcohol."

The Doctor had just pushed down a lever when Rhea's legs gave out. She took shuddering breaths and leant back against the console, grimacing as sharp pain rolled through her body, staring from her head, down her neck, coursing through her limbs and into her torso.

"I can't say I've missed the pain." Rhea murmured, weakly, as she fought against the instinctive response in her to cry out from the extent of the pain. Her limbs trembled and she glanced down at them, recognising the familiar silvery glow, that had been absent the last few jumps, coursing through her veins, seemingly instead of blood. She felt the hum of the TARDIS beneath her skin as the ship tried to comfort her through the time travel.

The Doctor was at her side throughout all of this, his arms wrapped tightly around her, and he rubbed her arms. She was ashamed to say that her shaky arms reached out for the chilly skin of his body, needing the relief as her skinned burned from the pain. She breathed in and out quickly and rested her head against his.

"I don't care which 'you' I visit next. You're still taking me out for a drink, got it, time boy?" Rhea told him, weakly and stubbornly.

The Doctor nodded against her hair, his chin resting on top of her head. He pressed a warm kiss to her temple. "Whatever you want."

Rhea smiled despite her distress. "Those are dangerous words for a girl like me." She teased, half-heartedly.

Her eyes shut, despite her best efforts, but her skin still felt scorching and she could see the glow from her body through the slits of her eyes. She breathed in deeply and exhaled, her fists clenching of their own accord. When her eyes fluttered open after a few minutes, her skin felt clammy and damp, her limbs ached and she had a crick in her neck, as if she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. She could still see black spots in her vision, but she pushed herself onto her own feet, rubbing her aching temples. Someone wrapped their arms around her waist, pulling her into an embrace. She tensed, her hips jutting back of their own accord. She was just about to raise her knee and slam it into the opposing person's groin or stomach, when she felt a familiar wool coat sliding across the exposed skin of her stomach. Her eyes opened wider so that she could get a better look and blinked furiously when she saw the familiar face of the Doctor she had just been with.

"Did I actually jump?" Rhea asked him, nervously.

"Yeah, you did." The Doctor whispered, still keeping his arms around her.

She shook her head, furiously, trying to get rid of the confusion and the resulting aftershock after being hurtled through time and space.

"So, where are we now?" The Doctor said.

"Um," Rhea began, running her hand through her hair, mussing it up just a bit. "I was just in 1953…"

"…with the Wire." The Doctor finished, leaning forward and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Oh, good, you've done it." Rhea said, happily, pulling out of his embrace and walking around the console. "You owe me a drink." Rhea told him.

The Doctor grinned. "I do, don't I?"

"This place is bloody magnificent!" A familiar female voice crowed as a woman stepped back into the console room.

"Donna!" Rhea exclaimed and rushed over to kiss her on both cheeks. Donna looked extremely confused and just looked Rhea up and down.

"You've changed your clothes." Donna told her.

Rhea looked down at herself. "No, I haven't." Rhea said, slowly.

"You were wearing something completely different before I went to look around in the TARDIS. And now you're wearing a sari." Donna protested. "You were wearing…"

Rhea rolled her eyes and covered Donna' mouth with her hand. "Spoilers, Red." She warned, taking her hand off her mouth.

Donna looked even more confused than she had looked before. "What do you mean, spoilers?" Donna asked, looking between the two of them.

Rhea's eyes widened as she realised the cause for Donna's confusion and spun on her heels to look at the Doctor. "We never told her!" Rhea exclaimed, looking at the Doctor, as his eyes dawned with realisation as well. "About me, I mean!"

"What, what about you?" Donna asked, getting slightly irritated with the vague sentences.

"The first time we met her, actually, it was the first time you two met each other, and the first time she met me, I'd already met her." Rhea started rambling as she tried to get her head around it.

"What do you mean you'd already met me?" Donna asked, frowning.

"Well…" Rhea drawled. "The first time you met me wasn't the first time I met you and the first time I met you, you had already known me for awhile."

"You're confusing _me_, Rhea." Donna said.

Rhea let out an aggravated sigh. "I'm confusing myself." She told her. She took a deep breath. "The basic gist of it is that him and I," She said, pointing at herself and the Doctor, "We don't meet in the right order."

Donna's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"She meets me in the wrong order. She'll come here and then she'll go back into my past, then jump into my future, it's very wibbly-wobbly." The Doctor explained.

"So…" Donna started. "When we met on my wedding day with Lance, you had already met me? Why, because you've done this before?" Donna asked.

"Well, not _this_." Rhea corrected. "But, yeah, I had met you before. I can't tell you where. Spoilers." Rhea said, winking. Rhea frowned. "You recognised I was wearing a sari, how did you do that?"

"Oh," Donna waved off. "There used to be an Indian family who lived up the road from me. I've seen the mother wear one."

"Ah." Rhea said, smoothing down the body of the sari. She turned to the Doctor. "Can we go for that drink now?" She hesitated, looking back at Donna. "Unless there was somewhere else you wanted to go?" She asked, cautiously.

"No." Donna shook her head. "A drink's fine."

Rhea clapped her hands in her enthusiasm. She turned to the Doctor. "Right, then, come on." She walked towards the console and started up the time rotor.

"92nd century then?" The Doctor asked, pushing down a lever.

"Wherever and whenever you want." Rhea said, with a grin.

* * *

"Hyper Vodka." Rhea said, gleefully, eyeing the golden liquid with delight. "Ooh, I can't wait."

"Just don't drink too much." The Doctor warned her. "It's your first time drinking it. It might be too strong."

Rhea gave him a withering look and took a deliberate sip of the golden liquid. This was her fourth drink for the night, she had already had a Manhattan, a Cosmopolitan and a Blow Job. She had laughed madly when she saw the Doctor's embarrassed and uncomfortable look when she had ordered _that _particular drink, but she was determined to get pretty drunk tonight. A part of her was stunned when the bartender had mixed her the previous drinks, she would have thought no one in the 92nd century would have known what a Manhattan or a Cosmo was.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head as the drink scorched the inside of her throat. It tasted like fire and she could understand why one of those would be enough to knock someone out cold.

"Wow!" Rhea breathed, taking another sip. She hummed. "This is what I call alcohol." She fidgeted in her barstool and grinned at Donna. "Want a sip?" She asked, holding the drink out.

Donna laughed. "I'll stick to my Sidecars, thank you very much. I'd rather be lucid tonight."

"Ha!" Rhea waved off. "Lucid's boring." She smiled. "Think of the fun you can have when it's all obscure." She purred, her voice rich and smooth as honey.

"Yeah, just what we need, a drunk Rhea." The Doctor said, sarcastically.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You're not my father." She said, pointedly. "I can get drunk whenever and wherever I want." She laughed. "I've gotten pretty good at it over the last couple of years." She licked her lips after taking another sip of the spirit.

"The things you do when you're drunk…" The Doctor trailed off, coughing when he saw her tongue run over her lips.

Rhea leaned forward, resting her head on her palm and her elbow on the table. She smiled wide, her glistening white teeth contrasting against the dark crimson of her lipstick. "Oh, really, what have I done?" Rhea asked, waggling her eyebrows. "Do tell." She murmured, her voice lowering to a whisper.

The Doctor shook his head, knowing that she was trying to get under his skin. "No way."

Rhea sighed. "This isn't the first time you've made me _squirm_." She pursed her lips in a smile and waited for the reaction, stifling a laugh when she saw his ears go red.

He started to stammer out a reply but then collected himself. He looked her up and down, clad in a blue sari, in a form hugging blouse that could pass as a bra any day, she certainly looked like that was all she was wearing, the exposed tanned skin of her stomach and the smooth curve of her hips outlined in the sari, his ending at her bright blue toenails in her open-toed heels. He looked back at her face, at the haughty smirk on her lips and the tease in her bright green eyes and the urge to _make her squirm_ burned through him.

Rhea put the drink down, slamming hard against the table. She stood up, abruptly, and looked at the Doctor and Donna with sneaky smile. "Let's dance." She entwined her fingers with theirs and started to pull them towards the dance floor.

"Oh, no, no, no." The Doctor said, pulling back and sitting back down. "I'm not dancing."

"You danced with me on the Titanic." Rhea retorted.

"You were overwhelmed." The Doctor argued. "It was your first time travelling with me and I wanted to make sure you were relaxed."

Rhea snorted. "That's an incredibly lame excuse, but you know what, if you want to sit there like an old maid, be my guest." Rhea turned to Donna. "What about you, Red? Want to let loose on the dance floor?" Rhea said, shaking her hips a bit.

Donna laughed a little and stood up. "Oh, what the hell." She said and Rhea pulled her onto the floor.

It was hot and damp on the dance floor. The minute that Rhea stepped onto the silver floor, she could feel the vibrations of the music thrumming around her, moving up her legs. Rhea reached out and pulled Donna's hands and put them on her waist, swaying her hips to the music as she did so. She threw her hands around her the redhead's neck and her head fell back, the golden and green lights from the ceiling streaming across her neck. The Doctor tensed, she looked like she was in rapture.

"I never really got into the dance scene." Donna said to her, yelling over the music.

"Why not?" Rhea shouted back. She shifted her hips to the beat of the music, her eyes closing. "It's incredible. I love it." She said, with a euphoric smile on her lips.

She tensed when she felt a hand slid over her shoulder and she turned around to see a handsome, blue-skinned young man in a black button-up shirt and leather pants. She was a little taken aback by his forwardness but the buzz in her skull slowly took care of that. She looked back at the Doctor, who was glaring at her. She smiled, sultrily, at him and was about to wrap her arms around his neck, when she felt larger, significantly manlier hands encircle her waist. She shrieked in surprise as she was dragged from the dance floor by a familiar looking, pinstripe suited Time Lord, Donna staring at them both with shock and confusion.

"Hey!" Rhea made a sound of alarm. "What the hell are you doing?" Rhea demanded.

"You, sit down." The Doctor ordered, shoving her down in her seat. She just sat there, furious and a little smashed.

"What is your problem?" Rhea hissed, clenching the table with her fingers, her nails digging into the wood.

"You're drunk." The Doctor said, shortly, his eyes dark as he leaned back in his seat.

"And you're sexy." She teased before she scoffed. "Oh, sweetie, it takes a lot more than four drinks to get me drunk." She said, condescendingly.

He leaned forward, angry, a hair's breadth away from her. "Not when you're drinking Hyper Vodka. You've never drunk that before. You haven't developed a tolerance to it, yet. That's why you're making stupid decisions like _that_." He eyed the alien she was about to dance with distaste.

"You didn't _want_ to dance with me, remember?" Rhea growled.

"Oh, and this planet's version of Hugh Heffner was the best replacement?" The Doctor asked, sarcastically. "I think not."

Rhea swore and had the urge to punch him in the face. "I am _not_ your property. If I want to fuck _Charlie Sheen_, then I'll fuck him, you've got no say in the matter." She hissed.

"I'd never let that happen." He told her, darkly.

She breathed in, harshly, trying to keep her temper under control. She slid to her feet and stormed over to the bar. She could her hear similar angry footsteps behind her. She sat on the barstool and he came up beside her.

"You have to be the most infuriating woman I have ever met." He growled as she ordered a Kamakazie shot.

"Keep 'em coming." She told the bartender, a seemingly human man in a white shirt and pants, pointedly ignoring the Doctor and his protests.

* * *

"I am not drunk!" Rhea slurred.

"Oh, please," The Doctor scoffed, keeping a tight hold of her waist as she stumbled around on their way back to the TARDIS. "You can barely keep your legs steady."

"That step wasn't there on the way _to_ the bar." Rhea protested, gripping the fabric of his suit tightly and snuggling into his side.

"What did you think was going to happen?" The Doctor demanded, hauling Rhea up against his side so that he could strengthen his hold around her. "Three shots of vodka, a margarita, cosmopolitan and a _blow job_," He said, flushing a little. "Not to mention, a Hyper Vodka, of course you're drunk!"

All Rhea did was smile at him. She leaned up, tapping him on the nose with her finger, affectionately, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for the night out, honey." Rhea hummed, wrapping an arm around his waist, as they staggered back into the TARDIS.

Rhea bit her lip, a few steps ahead of the TARDIS as he shut the doors and locked them. She turned around, awkwardly, and slammed him against the doors. The Doctor's eyes went wide and he spluttered. _Bloody hell. _He turned a little red as she slithered up against him, pressing herself against him, her heels pushing her to his height. Her forehead to his, her breasts against his chest, her hips touching his, their legs curling against each other.

"In fact," She purred, the tip of her nose skimming his cheekbone. "I think I should thank you properly."

Her nose slid down his cheek and she pressed a warm and sensual kiss to his jaw. She hummed when her lips met the warm skin of his neck and nuzzled and nipped at his neck, pressing soft kisses to the skin. "Mmm," She hummed. "You smell _so_ good." Her tongue ran up the cool skin. "You taste good too."

"Rhea, what are you doing?" The Doctor exclaimed, his face red as he tried to shove her away from him. The part of her sari that was draped over her shoulder in neat pleats had slipped off and was falling to her wrists, exposing her torso, clad in a black-sequined blouse that reminded him entirely too much of a bra. It was too small, very tight, extremely low cut and incredibly distracting.

"Rhea, what are you _wearing_?"

Rhea pouted, looking down at herself and pulling up the saree. "Don't you like it?" Rhea asked, grinning, her tongue poking out of her teeth, teasingly. She attempted to twirl but the Doctor caught her as she tripped over her own feet.

"It's very _revealing_."

"Well…" She drawled. "You could _take it off_ for me." Rhea said, seductively, stroking the inside of his palm with her finger. She took a hold of his hand and brought it to the centre of her stomach, just above where the pleats of her sari had been tucked in, motioning for him to pull the pleats out so that her sari would slip down her body. His fingers were splayed against the smooth, honey skin of her stomach and the Doctor shook, breathing in, heavily. He pulled his hand back, sharply.

"No, Rhea." The Doctor protested. "I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're in this state."

She shuffled herself so that she was pressed against him again. He looked down and suddenly wished he hadn't. He could see _right down_ her dress, and knowing Rhea, that was something she intended. His hands slipped down her waist, instead of touching blue chiffon, now he was touching warm skin. His eyes moved back to her face, noticing her sway slightly and hazy gaze.

"Come on, Dimples, time for bed." The Doctor sighed, pulling her along, across the console room and into the TARDIS.

"Dimples?" Rhea asked, registering the nickname in her muddled state of mind.

The Doctor looked back at her, with a small smile. "You have very adorable dimples." He straightened. "Bed." He ordered.

Rhea smirked. "Are you going to join me, honey?" Rhea asked, her voice breathy and her posture provocative.

The Doctor exhaled._ I never thought I'd need every iota of my self control to deal with an inebriated Rhea._ "No."

Rhea pouted then smiled. She pulled her hand, forcing him to stop and look at her. She languorously slinked up to him, letting the throw of the sari fall, leaving her exposed in her blouse and the skirt of her sari, which trailed across the floor behind her, looking like something out of Arabian Nights. She rested her chin on her shoulder, looking up at him. Her hand slid up around her neck and behind his head and to the nape of his neck. Her nails scratched against his hair, winding in the strands.

"I have wanted to get my hands in this hair for so long." Rhea moaned as she tugged the strands of his hair, frantically.

"We can't-" The Doctor spluttered, trying to push her hands away from him and put some distance between the two of them.

But Rhea fought.

She leaned up, her lips almost pressing against his. So close to him that he could smell the jasmine in her perfume, the talcum powder on her neck, the lavender in her shampoo, he could see the golden flecks in her green eyes, the crimson red coated across her lips, the brown highlights in her black hair, and if he pressed his lips to hers, he was sure he could taste the remnants of her drinks on them.

"I would make it _so good_ for you." She purred into his ear, her hand sliding down his chest to the tops of his trousers, about to undo the belt, when he scrambled away from her, breathing heavily.

_This woman's going to be the death of me. _He thought, plastering himself against the wall in the corridor. There was one path of brown eyes along the curves of her body before he righted himself, shaking his head. _She doesn't know what she's doing. You can't take advantage of her. _He wrapped a hand around her wrist and forcibly dragged her to her room, making sure he didn't look at her one, lest he get tempted to take her up on her offer.

"Doctor?" Rhea asked, quietly, when they reached the door.

"Yes, Rhea?"

"Are you angry at me?" She asked, in a meek and worried tone that sent a pang straight to his hearts. He never wanted Rhea to be afraid of him. Anyone else could be, but not her. He never should have let her drink this much, but when Rhea wanted to go on a "bender", she really went on one. To hell with anyone, that was her motto.

He sighed and pulled her into a hug. She smiled and nuzzled into his chest. "No, I'm not angry at you. I just forgot how young this you is."

"I'm not young! I'm twenty-seven!" Rhea protested. "Not like you, you're ancient, you grandpa." She teased.

"Thanks." He said, dryly.

Rhea giggled and swayed. Then, her face turned sober. "Do you think I'm a slut?" She asked, softly.

The Doctor flinched slightly. He looked at her, hard. "Why would you think that?" He asked her, cupping her face in his hands.

"Because you didn't react when I threw myself at you." Rhea said, bluntly.

The Doctor smiled, wryly. "Of course I reacted, you silly girl." The Doctor said, pressing his lips to her forehead. "But I would be taking advantage of you if I took you up on your offer. And you'd hate me tomorrow morning. But I'm not a saint, Rhea."

Rhea looked stunned. She swallowed hard and tried her hardest to maintain her balance. She wanted to be somewhat sober when she said this. "You're decent." She murmured, absolutely amazed. She looked up at him. "You're _actually_ decent."

The Doctor smiled. "Yes, I am."

"I've never met a decent man who wasn't related to me." Rhea told him as she stumbled into her room, the Doctor behind her. "Every guy I've prop-propo-propositioned has _always_ taken me up on my offer. In the bathroom of a bar, outside a nightclub in an alley, or their apartment." She said, absentmindedly, as she bounced on the bed.

The Doctor's gaze had faltered. He knew that Rhea had a wild year or two in her life, but to hear her say she _had never _met anyone decent. That broke his hearts.

Rhea smacked her lips, turning away from him. She yawned. "I should get changed."

"Yes." The Doctor said, looking around, and deciding to leave so that she could change in private. "I'll just be off then."

Rhea smirked at him. "Are you sure you don't want to help me?" Rhea asked, cocking her head.

The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked like a deer caught in headlights. "No, no, no, I think, I think it's better-." He stammered.

Rhea giggled. "It's okay, Doctor. I think I can manage on my own." She said, standing up and wobbling a little.

"I'll just be outside, if you need my help." The Doctor told her, walking outside and shutting the door behind him.

Rhea smiled at the closed door and stood up, holding onto various pieces of furniture in her room, so that she could reach her wardrobe, unwrapping herself out of the sari, folding it and hanging it inside the closet. A familiar blue, button-up shirt hung on one of the racks and Rhea pulled it out, looking at it with confusion. It was a man's shirt and it looked remarkably similar to the one the Doctor had on underneath his suit. She smiled, devilishly, and slipped it on, clad in only that shirt and panties, the shirt coming halfway up her thighs.

"I'm dressed!" She called out to the door and it swung open.

The Doctor just started at her for a moment.

"Is that my shirt?" The Doctor asked, his voice high-pitched and squeaky.

"Yeah," She smiled, innocently. "It was in my closet. The TARDIS must have put it there. Do you mind?" Rhea asked, cocking her head and staring up at him and crossing her legs once she was on the bed, so that the shirt rose up her thighs.

The Doctor shook his head, unsure of how to proceed. "You should, um, you should sleep it off." He said, meaning her intoxication.

"Are you sure you don't want to join me?" Rhea asked, only half-joking. A part of her wasn't playing him anymore. She wanted to see if he would hold steadfast. But a part of her wouldn't mind if he honestly joined her. But that would be a mistake.

"No, no, no, I, well, I have to, there's this…thing I have to do." He stuttered, pointing outside the door.

She smiled, letting him know she was joking. "It's okay." She murmured and crawled across the bed, not noticing the Doctor shutting his eyes in an attempt to control himself. She snuggled underneath the silk covers and laid her head on her pillow, smiling. She opened her eyes and turned to look at him, her green eyes intense. "Thank you."

The Doctor smiled a little. "You're welcome." He said, before shutting the door on his way out.

The lights dimmed and she clutched onto the pillow tightly, sinking into her alien alcohol-induced oblivion.

* * *

When Rhea woke up the next morning, the lights were on.

"Good morning." An incredibly cheerful voice called out.

One eye opened and looked at the idiot in front of her. "Go away, you smug bastard." Rhea groaned, turning over so that her back was facing him.

"Oi! Language!"

"Shut up!" Rhea hissed. She felt as if someone was squeezing her head tightly as her brain screamed in response. She cringed when she felt the warm light in the room fall on her eyelids, causing her to whimper in pain, and she waved her hand absentmindedly in the air, as if trying to shoo the light away. She curled into a ball, tucking her head into her chest. "Turn the fucking lights off."

The lights dimmed and she sighed in her somewhat relief. She felt the covers being ripped away from her body and she growled, ignoring the fact that her throat burned from the lack of water.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"Rise and shine, Rhea." The Doctor said, happily. "Have to take Donna on her first adventure today."

Rhea groaned. "Isn't she as hungover as I am?"

"Of course not. No one could be as drunk as you are!"

"My head feels like a freaking mosh pit." Rhea told him.

The Doctor nodded. "That's usually what happens when you imbibe copious amounts of alcohol."

Rhea opened her mouth to retort when she made a run for the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet and shoved the seat up, before she doubled over and threw up the entire contents of yesterday's meals. She retched and she gagged until she wasn't sure anything was left in her body anymore. Her hair was pulled away from her face and held behind her head until she finished vomiting. As she leaned against the toilet, she willed time to turn back so that she wouldn't go on a bender with three shots of vodka at the end. Cool hands stroked her hair and the temperature felt good against her heated skin. Her head dropped onto the toilet seat, her forehead and hair soaked with sweat.

"Better?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, shut up." She grumbled. "Alcohol is poison." She said, as she washed her mouth out with water, trying to get the taste of bile out of her mouth.

"So, why do you drink it?" The Doctor asked, confused.

She turned to look at him. "Because there are things inside of me I need to kill." She said, bluntly. The Doctor smirked at her. Rhea narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you enjoying my agony?"

The Doctor gave her a sheepish smile. "A little."

Rhea glared at him and looked down at herself. "Yech! I need a shower." She motioned for him to leave the bathroom and she shed the shirt and underwear she was wearing. She stepped into the shower and hummed in relief as the warm jets of water eased the ache in her muscles and soothed the pounding in her head. After she had made sure she had practically drowned herself in the massive shower, she walked back out, dressed in the same shirt, to see the Doctor seated on her bed, bouncing a little.

"Oh," He exclaimed, handing her a flask of green liquid, which she eyed, suspiciously. "Drink it, it's a hangover cure created on Jalian 17. It should work on Hyper Vodka."

Rhea groaned. "Honey, I have roofing nails having a rave in my skull, I'm going to need a bit more than 'should'."

"Just drink it."

Rhea rolled her eyes and downed the flask in one gulp, grimacing at the slimy texture and sour taste. She shook her head and gave him back the flask, surprised at how much better she felt. The shards of glass that had poked the backs of her eyes were gone, the burn in her throat had faded and her stomach had stopped churning. Her muscles still felt heavy and she had a miserable headache, but this was still loads better than the after-effects of one of her binges.

"You should sell that." Rhea said to the Doctor. "You'd be a billionaire." She retraced the steps of her drunken night and paused when she remembered what exactly had happened once the Doctor had brought her back to the TARDIS. "Oh, my god." She moaned.

"What, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, worriedly, coming over to her.

"I tried to seduce _you_." Rhea whispered, scandalised.

"Yes," The Doctor murmured, embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You did seem quite eager to get me into your bed."

Rhea grimaced and shut her eyes. _Oh, that's just great, I tried to sleep with him. And you thought you didn't have poor judgement. Although, the possibilities if he had agreed... _Then, they slammed open. "You said no." Rhea stated, shocked. "You _actually _said no."

"Well, yes, I didn't want to take advantage of you."

"No one's said no before." She said, softly, looking up at him, earnestly. She swallowed, convulsively, and smiled at him. She slid to her feet. "Where are we going now?" She asked him, trying to get rid of the dangerous thoughts in her head.

The Doctor winked at her. "It's a surprise."

Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to change?"

The Doctor shrugged. "If you'd like."

"So, what actually happened to Donna?" Rhea asked as they came into the console room.

"I took her back to the TARDIS and then came back for you."

"Good." She nodded. "At least you didn't leave her there."

The Doctor looked insulted. "I'd never do that."

"Can't you tell me where we're going?" Rhea whined.

"No." The Doctor laughed. "It has to be as much of a surprise to you as it is for Donna."

"What surprise?" Donna asked, walking in.

Rhea frowned at her. "Don't you have a hangover?"

"I did," Donna said. "But the Doctor gave me some of that magic potion and I feel much better."

"It's not a magic potion. It's a liquid made out of-" The Doctor started to explain.

"So, where are we going?" Donna interrupted, with a smile.

"He won't tell me." Rhea told her.

The Doctor spun a wheel on the console and yanked down the lever, turning the time rotor on. Donna and Rhea reached for a railing the minute the TARDIS started jerking around.

"So, did you miss this?" Rhea called out to Donna.

"Not the sea-sickness." Donna replied.

"Doctor, we really don't need the race car experience right now." Rhea shouted at the Doctor.

"Oh, please," He scoffed. "This is part of the fun."

Donna and Rhea shared exasperated looks as they were thrown all over the ship.

* * *

The Doctor stepped outside of the TARDIS, finding himself in some sort of a tent. He pushed aside a rough, dirty white curtain, a broad smile forming on his face. Donna and Rhea came up beside him, looking around in wonder. Donna was wearing a purple patterned top and jeans and Rhea was decked out in a long, white and black full-sleeved dress, so she wouldn't draw too much attention to herself.

"Ancient Rome!" The Doctor crowed, stepping out into a street that had dozens of market stalls set up. He looked around and Donna and Rhea followed him. "Well, not to them, obviously. To all intents and purposes right now...this is brand new Rome." He explained, matter-of-factly.

"Oh my God, it's...it's so Roman." Donna breathed, enthusiastically. "This is fantastic!" She gushed, throwing her arms around his neck, making the Doctor and Rhea laugh. "I'm here...in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome." She walked down the street. "This is just weird. I mean, everyone here is dead." She said, looking around at all of the people, dressed in a variety of Roman clothes.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, don't go telling them that."

Donna looked behind him and noticed something. "Hold on a minute." She said, with a voice that was burgeoning with disappointment. "That sign over there is in English. Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?" She whined, almost stomping her foot.

"No, no, no, no." The Doctor said, going up to her.

"It's the TARDIS translation matrix." Rhea explained.

"It just makes it look like English, speech as well. You're talking Latin right now." The Doctor told Donna.

Donna's eyes went wide. "Seriously?"

"Mmm." The Doctor hummed in agreement.

Doctor smiled. "I just said 'seriously' in Latin." Donna said, and then she laughed.

"Oh yeah." Rhea said, grinning at her and hooking Donna's arm with her own.

"What if I said something in actual Latin? Like 'veni, vidi, vici'? My dad said that when he came back from football." Donna said, hurriedly.

"It means 'I came, I saw, I conquered'." Rhea chimed in. "And good point, what would happen?" She asked, looking at the Doctor.

Donna nodded at her. "If I said 'veni, vidi, vici' to that lot, what would it sound like?" She asked the Doctor as well.

"I'm not sure," The Doctor said, his eyebrows furrowing. "Blimey, the two of you have to think of difficult questions, don't you?" He said, glaring at them.

Rhea simply laughed and took a hold of his hand when Donna removed her arm from hers.

"I'm gonna try it." She warned, enthusiastically, and walked up to one of the stallholders, a middle-aged man.

"Hello, sweetheart." The stallholder drawled, eyeing Donna up and down. Rhea rolled her eyes. "What can I get for you, my love?" He asked the redhead.

Donna pursed her lips. "Veni, vidi, vici." She said, slowly, wondering what his reaction would be.

The stallholder frowned. "Huh? Sorry? Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy." He said, slowly, twirling his hands around, trying to give her the message.

"Yeah." Donna said and walked back to the Doctor. "What does he mean by 'Celtic'?" Donna asked the Doctor.

"Welsh. You sound Welsh. There we are. That's something." The Doctor nodded.

The Doctor, Donna and Rhea turned around and started to walk down the street. As Rhea spun on her feet, she noticed a red-robed woman with bizarre eye make-up, albino-pale skin and great deal of jewellery around her neck watching the three of them intently. She frowned but started to walk towards the Doctor and Donna, not thinking too much of it. _She's probably staring at us because of our clothes._

"Won't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna asked the Doctor.

"Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. Although, Rhea'll fit right in." The Doctor said, eyeing Rhea's dress.

Rhea stopped and put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Are you mocking my Indian clothes?" Rhea asked, dangerously.

The Doctor held his hands out in a surrender position, much to Donna's amusement. "Wouldn't dream of it." He turned to Donna. "She might punch me." He told her, in a conspiratorial whisper. He straightened, avoiding Rhea's narrowed eyes. "Rome's like Soho…but bigger."

"You've been here before then?" Donna asked the Doctor, looking up at him as they turned around the corner.

"Hm, ages ago." The Doctor murmured. Rhea opened her mouth to ask him something, but he cut her off. "Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me." He paused. "Well, a little bit, but I hadn't gotten the chance top look around properly. Coliseum...Pantheon... Circus Maximus..." They came through a small archway. "You'd expect them to be looming by now."

"You think we'll get to see a gladiator show?" Donna asked with a laugh.

"All those men, practically naked, bulging muscles, fighting." Rhea shook her head with a smile. "It's a twenty-first century girl's dream come true." Rhea grinned when she saw the annoyed look the Doctor was giving her. "I'm just joking, honey." Rhea said, wrapping an arm around his waist and giving him a quick hug.

The Doctor frowned. "Where is everything?" He stopped and looked around. "Maybe this way."

They walked on and came to a wider street. Donna and Rhea looked around. Donna noticed something to her left.

"I'm not an expert, but there are Seven Hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they only got one?" Donna asked, looking at a large mountain in the distance.

The ground shook.

"Here we go again." Rhea heard a man saying.

She looked around to see everyone gripping onto various structures in their vicinities, as stallholders did what they could to save their stalls and merchandise, in vain. She paled. "There are seven hills, but there's only one mountain here." Rhea breathed, gripping onto the Doctor's hand tightly. "One mountain, breathing smoke, which means we're in…" She trailed off.

"Pompeii." The Doctor said, with wide eyes. "We're in Pompeii...and it's Volcano Day!"

* * *

A/N: And there's the end of an original chapter! Rhea got drunk and tried to seduce the Doctor! But he's a gentleman, he wouldn't take advantage of her in that state, no matter how much he wanted to ;) How sweet is he! Rhea's a bit of a party girl, isn't she? I hope the descriptions of the hangover and the bar scene were accurate, I'm not much of a drinker to be honest. And we had glimpses of a jealous and possessive Doctor, hopefully we get to see him again soon. And Rhea gave a few insights into her past. She is definitely a wild child. And the lead up to the next chapter…the next episode is, you guessed it, _The Fires of Pompeii_. I wonder what will happen in the next chapter ;) Wow, I can't actually believe I've written twenty chapters. This is definitely the most dedicated I've been to a story in a very long time. Let's hope that dedication continues.

Anyway, Read and Review!

And visit my Tumblr!


	21. The Fires of Pompeii: The Last Day

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, I would flirt with Amy all the time.

A/N: And here's the first chapter of _The Fires of Pompeii_. I know that I've been doing a lot of the 10th Doctor episodes, but the episode after the next one will be back to the Eleventh Doctor, and Rhea will finally get to meet Amy and Rory! Anyways, I hope you like my rendition of _The Fires of Pompeii_. I wonder what the soothsayers are going to say about Rhea's role in Season 4's finale. And please keep the reviews coming in, if you don't want to write one, feel free to tell me on Tumblr, so I know that my story's good to continue, even if you want to tell me that it's total crap.

Notes on Reviews:

Mionerocks: Thank you so much I'm so glad you liked drunk Rhea, she was so fun to write. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs in their relationship in the coming chapters, but yes, that was a huge step for them. Rhea's only had guys take advantage of her in that state and she was so surprised when the Doctor resisted her, not that he wanted to, of course, but he respects her so much that he doesn't want to compromise their shaky relationship, despite his feelings.

Aka-Baka Hoshi: I'm glad you like my story! There will be a snippet in my next chapter if I get to 100 reviews by then. Nine did have some great Oncoming Storm moments. There was _Dalek_ and_ Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways. _I think Ten had his own. He had _The Idiot's Lantern _(even if it was because of Rose), _The Runaway Bride, Daleks in Manhatten/Evolution of the Daleks, The Family of Blood, The Doctor's Daughter, Forest of the Dead, Water of Mars._ Eleven had quite a few ones as well, I think he had the best actually. _The Eleventh Hour_'s last scene was amazing, where he's all "Hello, I'm the Doctor, basically, run.". His scene with the angel Bob on the radio in _Time of the Angels _was very good. His dissing of all of the aliens in _The Pandorica Opens_, so cocky and amazing. There was _Day of the Moon, The Doctor's Wife, A Good Man Goes To War, Asylum of the Daleks, A Town Called Mercy, Cold War, The Time of the Doctor. _So many with Matt Smith's Doctor.

Warnings: Swearing

* * *

The Fires of Pompeii: The Last Day

_She looked around to see everyone gripping onto various structures in their vicinities, as stallholders did what they could to save their stalls and merchandise, in vain. She paled. "There are seven hills, but there's only one mountain here." Rhea breathed, gripping onto the Doctor's hand tightly. "One mountain, breathing smoke, which means we're in…" She trailed off._

"_Pompeii." The Doctor said, with wide eyes. "We're in Pompeii...and it's Volcano Day!"_

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna raced through the streets of Pompeii and arrived at the small tent where they had come from, only to find that the TARDIS was missing.

"You're kidding." Donna said, her mouth gaping, staring at the empty alcove. "Don't tell me the TARDIS is gone."

"Okay." The Doctor nodded.

"Where is it then?" Donna asked, looking around.

The Doctor looked at her. "You told me not to tell you."

Rhea reached up and smacked him up the back of his head. "Don't be a smartass in Latin." Rhea hissed.

The Doctor turned around and walked up to the same stallholder that Donna had been talking to earlier. "Um...excuse me! Excuse me! There was a box, big, blue box. Big, blue, wooden box...just over there." He pointed to the tent. "Where's it gone?"

"Sold it, didn't I?" The stallholder said, smugly.

Rhea came up to them. "But, it wasn't yours to sell…" Rhea said, slowly, trying to point out the obvious.

"It was on my patch, wasn't it?" The stallholder said, defensively, and Rhea threw her hands in the air in exasperation. _Everything's about money. _"I got 15 sesterce for it. Lovely jubbly" He rubbed his hands together.

Rhea looked at the Doctor, questioningly. _Jubbly?_

"Who did you sell it to?" The Doctor asked him.

"Old Caecilius. Look...if you want to argue, why don't you take it up with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa can't miss it." The stallholder sighed.

"Thanks." The Doctor said, and the three of them ran off, but the Doctor returned, a little bemused. "What did he buy a big, blue wooden box for?" The Doctor ran through the market streets back to Donna and Rhea. "Ha! I've got it! Foss Street, this way!"

"No," Donna shook her head. "I've found this big sort of amphitheatre I think... We can start there. We can get everyone together. Then maybe they've got a great, big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?" She rambled, looking around.

"What do you want a bell for?" Rhea asked her, confused.

"To warn everyone! To start the evacuation! What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" Donna asked them.

"It's 79 AD, 23 of August which makes Volcano Day tomorrow." The Doctor said, his face hard.

"Plenty of time. We can get everyone out easy." Donna said, not seeing the problem in what she was suggesting.

"Except we're not going to." The Doctor said, grabbing her by the hand and motioning for Rhea to follow him as well. This was wrong. Very wrong. They shouldn't be here. Not for Pompeii. Not for a place where he couldn't do a damn thing to change it. _Pompeii is fixed, you can't do anything._

Rhea paled as she realised what Donna was suggesting. The Doctor had made it very clear. Not this one, the future one, had explained about the delicate nature of fixed points in time. She guessed the destruction of Pompeii was one of those fixed points. They couldn't change it. She flinched. So many people. They were all going to die, and there was no damn thing they could do about it.

Donna, however, didn't budge at all, unaware of the turmoil rising in the other two. "But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people." She said.

"But not this time." The Doctor shook his head, earnestly. "Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it." He tried to make her move.

"Says who?" Donna asked, her hands falling to her hips.

"Says me." The Doctor said, lowly, not needing her objection at this point in time.

"What, and you're in charge?" Donna asked.

"TARDIS, Time Lord...yeah."

"Donna, human, no." Donna glared.

"Oh, come on, you two, don't do this now." Rhea groaned.

"I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself." Donna snapped at the Doctor, ignoring Rhea.

The Doctor breathed in, harshly. "You stand in the marketplace and announce the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer." He growled. "Now, come on. TARDIS, we are getting out of here." He stormed off, towards the direction of Foss Street.

"Well, I just might have something to say about that, spaceman!" Donna said, sarcastically.

The Doctor looked back at the two women. "Oh, I bet you will!" He said, not looking pleased about that at all.

Rhea rolled her eyes and grabbed Donna's hand, following the Doctor on his face to Caecilius' villa.

* * *

"Positions!" They heard a middle-aged man call out as they approached the entrance hall of Caecilius' villa. They entered the house just as another earthquake shook the ground. Barely managing it, the Doctor stepped forward and seized a large, marble bust that was about to fall onto the floor.

"Whoa!" The Doctor exclaimed, slapping its cheeks. "There you go." He said, handing it to the middle-aged man.

"Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor." The man told them. Rhea assumed that this was Caecilius. She frowned a bit, she remembered studying someone named Caecilius, who lived in Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. _This couldn't be the same Caecilius. Could it? What are the chances?_

"Oh, that's me." The Doctor said, leaning forward to shake Caecilius' hand. "I'm a visitor. Hello."

Caecilius frowned, looking between the two women and the unusual man. "Who are you?"

"Aurelia." Rhea said, quickly. _You and your gold motif, Rhea._

"I am…Spartacus." The Doctor answered, ignoring Rhea's groan.

"And so am I." Donna agreed.

Rhea hung her head. _Of course she is._

"Mr and Mrs Spartacus?" Caecilius asked, looking at them both.

Both Donna's and the Doctor's eyes widened. "Oh no, we're not married." The Doctor said. moving away from Donna and closer to Rhea so that their hips were touching.

"Not together." Donna agreed, shaking her head frantically.

"Oh, then brother and sister? Yes, of course. You look very much alike." Caecilius said.

Rhea looked at them, squinting, trying to see if she could find a likeness. _No, sorry, nothing._

"Really?" The Doctor and Donna asked in unison, confused as much as Rhea was.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade."

"And that trade would be…?" The Doctor trailed of.

"Marble. Lucius Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man." Caecilius said, proudly.

"That's good." The Doctor nodded. "That's good, 'cause I'm the marble inspector." He said, abruptly, brandishing the psychic paper at the man.

One of the women in the room stood up, her eyes wide. "By the gods of commerce, an inspection." She glared at the young man next to her, taking his cup of wine by force. "I'm sorry, sir. I do apologize for my son." She apologized, pouring what was left of the wine into the pool.

"Oi!" The boy shouted.

"This is my good wife, Metella." Caecilius motioned to the woman who had just spoken. "I-I must confess, we're not prepared for a-" He stammered.

The Doctor smiled. "Nothing to worry about. I-I'm sure you've got nothing to hide. Although, frankly," The Doctor spotted the big, blue wooden box they had been searching for, tucked in a corner of the atrium. "That...object…rather looks like wood to me." The three of them walked towards the TARDIS.

"I told you to get rid of it!" Metella hissed at her husband, terrified of what the consequences might be.

"I only bought it today." Caecilius protested.

The Doctor shrugged in response. "Ah, well. Caveat Emptor."

"Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely." Caecilius said.

"I'm sure it's fine but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection." The Doctor said, looking back at the man.

"Although…" Donna started, making Rhea and the Doctor look at her. "While we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus, Aurelia?" Donna said, meaningfully, looking at them both.

The Doctor pursed his lips, frustrated. "I don't know what you mean, Spartacus." The Doctor said, through gritted teeth.

"Oh, this lovely family, mother and father and son... Don't you think they should get out of town?" Donna said, eyeing them both.

Rhea shut her eyes. She could see where Donna was coming from, but it wasn't like they could do anything to save all of these people. If they did, the future might change dramatically. Things that happened because Pompeii fell might never happen. For that reason alone, they couldn't change things.

"Why should we do that?" Caecilius asked, confused.

The Doctor rubbed his eyes as Donna tried to explain to them without giving too much away.

"Well, the volcano for starters." Donna told them.

"What?" Caecilius looked puzzled.

"Volcano." Donna repeated.

"What-ano?" Caecilius asked, leaning forward slightly, in case his hearing was off.

"That great big volcano right on your doorstep." Donna said, slowly.

Rhea rolled her eyes and smacked her forhead. "Oh, Spartacus, Spartacus, for shame," She said, addressing both Donna and the Doctor with hard looks. "We haven't even greeted the household gods yet." She grabbed their hands and pulled them towards the shrine, without giving them time to protest.

"Where did you learn that?" The Doctor whispered in her ear.

"I studied Latin _every_ year in high school, not to mention a year or two in college. I know a few things." She said, winking at him. She turned to Donna. "They don't even know what a volcano is."

"Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet." The Doctor explained, sprinkling water over the small statues. "The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow."

"Oh great. They can learn a new word...when they die." Donna hissed, sarcastically.

Rhea ran her hand through her hair. "Donna, _please_ stop it."

"Listen," Donna snapped, looking at the two. "I don't know what sort of kids you two have been flyin' around with in outer space, but you're not telling me to shut up. That boy..." She pointed at Caecilius' son. "How old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death."

"And that's our fault?" The Doctor asked.

"Right now, yes!"

"Would you two stop arguing like children?" Rhea said, angrily. She could feel a headache coming on because of their bickering. "I'm not babysitting you both."

"How can you be okay with this?" Donna hissed, looking at Rhea. Donna thought, of all people, that Rhea would be the one to object to letting all of these people die.

"Of course, I'm not okay with this." Rhea snapped, losing control of her temper. "There aren't many people who would be _okay_ with letting twenty-thousand people die. But we can't do anything about it." Rhea said, through gritted teeth. "It could change our future." She said, calming down a bit. "Our own history could change, which means we might never come with the Doctor to save Pompeii in the first place. We might never have existed. The Doctor might have died centuries ago. So many things could happen differently by changing what happens here. But that's not the only problem. Fixed points in time _cannot_ be altered. Time would collapse and die. Reality would fall apart." Rhea explained, repeating exactly what the bow-tie wearing Doctor had told her about fixed points in time in her own words. She didn't even want to know if he had first-hand experience with that.

A servant entered the entrance hall.

"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the city government." The servant said.

Rhea, the Doctor and Donna turned on their feet to see who would enter. A greying older man strode in, confident in his position and his status, wearing his white and grey cloak so it draped over his right side. The man had a hard look on his face, one that told Rhea that he didn't have much fun in his life.

"Lucius, my pleasure as always." Caecilius said, generously.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna left the shrine, curious to see the visitor.

"Quintus, stand up!" Metella hissed at the young man.

Quintus stood up with a long-suffering sigh.

"A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house." Caecilius gushed, holding out his hand, which Lucius ignored.

"The births are flying north… and the wind is in the west." Lucius remarked, mystically.

"Right. Absolutely." Caecilius said, puzzled. "That's good, is it?" He asked, nervously.

"Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow." Lucius said in the same strange tone he had used before.

"There now, Metella, have you ever heard such wisdom?" Caecilius said, proudly, to his wife, motioning for her to come and stand next to him.

"Never." Metella smiled. "It's an honour."

"Pardon me, sir, I have guests. This is Spartacus, Aurelia, and, uh, Spartacus." Caecilius said, unwillingly.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna waved.

"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind." Lucius said, not looking the three visitors in the eye.

"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark." The Doctor replied.

Lucius took a few steps forward. "Ah! What is the dark other than an omen of the sun?"

The Doctor hung his head slightly. "I concede that every sun must set..."

"Ha!" Lucius interrupted.

"...and yet the son of the father must also rise." The Doctor finished, pleased with himself.

"Damn. Very clever, sir. Evidently a man of learning."

The Doctor grinned. That was definitely an understatement. "Oh yes, but don't mind me. Don't want to disturb the status quo."

"He's Celtic." Caecilius whispered to Lucius.

"We'll be off in a minute." The Doctor said, taking Donna's hand. The three of them headed for the TARDIS.

"I'm not going." Donna protested, subdued.

Rhea kept her eye on the augur, not trusting him at all.

"It's ready, sir." She heard Caecilius tell Lucius.

"You've got to." The Doctor growled.

"Well, I'm not." Donna said.

"The moment of revelation." Caecilius said, dramatically, as he unveiled a square piece of marble. "And here it is."

Rhea's eyes widened as the square piece of marble looked like it had a large circuit etched into it, which was definitely an anachronism in this day and age. She elbowed the Doctor in the back, so that he would look at the circuit. The Doctor turned around, annoyed, about to say something angry to Rhea when he caught sight of what Caecilius was showing Lucius.

"Exactly as you specified. It pleases you, sir?" Caecilius asked Lucius, nervously.

The three time-travelers stopped.

"Doesn't it look like a circuit to you?" Rhea whispered to the Doctor.

"It looks familiar." The Doctor said, his face hard. Rhea looked up at him, seeing his face set in stone.

"As the rain pleases the soil." Lucius muttered, vaguely.

The Doctor rejoined them, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Oh now that's...different. Who designed that then?"

"My lord Lucius was very specific." Caecilius told them, which only heightened Rhea's distrust of the soothsayer.

"Where did you get the pattern?" Rhea asked the soothsayer.

"On the rain and mist and wind." Rhea rolled her eyes.

"Well, that looks like a circuit." Donna added.

"Made of stone." Rhea finished.

"Do you mean you just dreamt that up?" The Doctor asked Lucius.

"That is my job...as City Augur." Lucius said,

"What's that then, like the mayor?" Donna asked.

Rhea flinched and she and the Doctor pulled Donna aside.

"Oh, ah, you must excuse my friend. She's from...Barcelona." The Doctor told the others before turning to Donna. "This is an age of superstition...of official superstition. The augur is paid by the city to tell the future. "The wind will blow from the west." That's the equivalent of the 10:00 news."

A young teenage girl joined them, Metella's arm around her shoulders, her face sickly pale and drawn and her eyes bloodshot.

_She looks sick. Not just 'common cold' sick, but 'need to hospitalised' sick. She looks like she's going to fall down any minute. Her legs look like they can't keep her up._ Rhea eyed the girl with worry and curiosity.

"They're laughing at us. These three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us." The girl accused.

The Doctor's eyes widened as he looked at the others, nervously. "No, no. I meant no offence."

Metella apologised on behalf of her daughter. "My daughter's been consuming the vapours." She explained, walking over to her daughter.

Quintus glared at his mother, furious. "By the gods, Mother! What have you been doing to her?"

"Not now, Quintus." Caecilius told him, sharply.

"But she's sick. Just look at her."

"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift." Lucius said, narrowing his eyes at the girl.

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sybiline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions." Metella said, with all the enthusiasm of a proud mother.

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull." Lucius scoffed. "Only the men folk have the capacity for true perception."

Rhea snorted. "True perception, my ass." Rhea muttered. "If men had _half_ the perception women did, the world wouldn't be going to hell."

"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate." Donna muttered as well.

The ground shook beneath them, suddenly, Rhea was reminded of the fact that Vesuvius was due to blow any time now.

"The mountain god marks your words. I'd be careful if I were you." Lucius warned the women.

"Consuming the vapours, you say?" The Doctor asked, steering the conversation away from Rhea and Donna.

"They give me strength." The girl said.

Rhea snorted. _Oh, honey, you look anaemic._

"It doesn't look like it to me." The Doctor said, voicing Rhea's thoughts in a more sensible and polite manner.

"Is that your opinion...as doctors?" The girl asked, cocking her head.

Rhea tensed and the Doctor's eyes went wide. She stepped up so that she was standing right next to him.

"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked, frowning at her, wondering how she could know that. He hadn't introduced himself as the Doctor and Rhea hadn't even spoken her name.

"Doctor. That's your name." The girl replied. She turned to Rhea. "And you, you are a physician of the mind."

Rhea pursed her lips, recoiling slightly. She didn't like it when she wasn't in control.

"How did you know that?" The Doctor asked the girl, bewildered.

"And you, you call yourself noble." The girl said, suddenly turning to Donna.

"Now then Evelina, don't be rude." Metella said, cautiously, coming up to her daughter, her eyes darting between the three unknown visitors, Lucius and her daughter.

"No," Rhea shook her head, eyeing the girl with suspicion. She knew too much. How did she know that? "Let her talk."

"The three of you have come from so far away." Evelina murmured, staring at them with red and empty eyes.

"A female soothsayer in inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries." Lucius sneered at Evelina.

"Oh, not this time, Lucius. I reckon you've been out-soothsaid." The Doctor said, not taking his eyes off Evelina.

"Is that so…man of Gallifrey?" Lucius asked, staring at the Doctor.

Rhea paled and spun on her feet, turning to face him the moment he uttered the name of the Doctor's fallen home. She felt the Doctor grip her hand tight, almost to the point of pain, and turned to look at him. His eyes were haunted and worried, his face hard, his mouth set. She rubbed his arm to give him a little bit of comfort.

"What?" The Doctor breathed.

"Strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" Lucius asked.

"Doctor? How do they know that?" Rhea asked, but then Lucius' attention was directed towards her.

"And you, the _golden_ woman, born in the waters of India but the light of Italy shines through you still." Lucius said, staring at her, intently.

Rhea swallowed hard.

"Doctor, what are they doing?" Donna asked, looking at their worried faces and getting a little anxious herself.

"And you, daughter of...London." The auger turned to address Donna.

Donna's eyes widened. "How does he know that?" She hissed.

"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth." Lucius explained.

"But that's impossible." Donna said, shaking her head.

"Doctor, she is returning." Lucius told the bemused man.

Rhea frowned. "Who is? Who's she?"

"You, the Italian daughter of Arabia, a woman who is tangled in the heart of Time and will be touched by her flames soon. At the End of Days, a goddess shall awaken from the ashes." The augur told her.

Rhea's hands shook and the Doctor's hand left hers to come around her shoulder, pulling her into his side, offering her some comfort as the soothsayer's prediction struck a chord in her.

"And you, daughter of London," Lucius fixed Donna with a stare. "You have something on your back." He said, ominously.

"What's that mean?" Donna asked, clutching onto Rhea's hand with an iron grip.

"Even the word "Doctor" is false." Evelina interrupted, looking at the Doctor. Rhea frowned and made to say something but Evelina began before she could say anything. "It burns in the stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. And in the future of a goddess." Evelina said, turning to Rhea. The girl paused. "You are a lord, sir. A lord...of time." She murmured and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Evelina!" Metella screamed.

Rhea's and the Doctor's eyes widened and Metella and the two rushed to Evelina's prone figure.

* * *

Evelina was lying unconscious on her bed, while Metella was taking care of her, and Donna and Rhea approached.

"She didn't mean to be rude. She's ever such a good girl." Metella tried to explain to them. "But when the gods speak through her..." She unwrapped a yellow cloth that was tied around Evelina's forearm.

Rhea frowned. "What's wrong with her arm?"

"An irritation of the skin. She never complains, bless her. We bathe it in olive oil every night." Metella said, not taking her eyes off her daughter.

"What is it?" Donna asked, as the two women walked closer.

"Evelina said you both had come from far away." Metella looked at them, hopefully. "She said you were a doctor." She said, addressing Rhea. "Please, have you ever seen anything like it?"

When the cloth came off, Rhea could see that Evelina's forearm was utterly and completely grey and slightly cracked, like a rock. Donna ran her fingers along Evelina's arm, feeling the texture of the skin.

"It's stone." Donna said, confused, voicing Rhea's thoughts.

* * *

The Doctor and Caecilius sat beside the hypocaust and the Doctor removed the grill covering the heating device.

"Ah! Different sort of hypocaust." The Doctor exclaimed.

"Oh, yes, we're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs...leading from Vesuvius itself." Caecilius told them.

"Who thought of that?" The Doctor asked, frowning.

"The soothsayers after the great earthquake 17 years ago. An awful lot of damage but we rebuilt." Caecilius said, proudly.

"Didn't you think of moving away?" The Doctor paused. "Oh, no, then again, San Francisco." Then he winced. He didn't want to know what Rhea would say or _do_ if she found out he was insulting her hometown.

"That's a new restaurant in Naples, isn't it?" Caecilius said, completely missing the point.

The Doctor looked down into the heating system, where he could hear a loud grating and rumbling. "What's that noise?" The Doctor asked, frowning.

"Don't know. Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring." Caecilius said.

"But after the earthquake..." The Doctor's eyes dawned with realisation. "Let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?"

"Oh yes, very much so. I mean, they'd always been...shall we say "imprecise"?" Caecilius said, hesitantly, hoping to be as diplomatic as possible about a shaky issue. "But then...the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Have they said anything about tomorrow?" He asked, cautiously. If they were able to predict events so accurately, why wouldn't they know that tomorrow was the day that Vesuvius erupts?

"No." Caecilius shook his head. "Why should they? Why do you ask?"

"No, no, no reason. Just asking." The Doctor changed the subject, the less he spoke about tomorrow, the better. "But the soothsayers...they all consume the vapours?"

Caecilius nodded. "That's how they see."

The Doctor slipped on his glasses. "Ipso facto…" He murmured, leaning into the hypocaust.

"Look, you…"

The Doctor straightened. "They're all consuming this." He grasped a few shattered pieces of rock and pinched the particles between his fingers, rubbing them.

"Dust?"

"Tiny particles of rock." He corrected. He sprinkled a few before he put the rest in his mouth, tasting them. "They're breathing in Vesuvius." He said, grimly.

The Doctor left Caecilius and walked into comfortable place, where Quintus was lounging, sipping a cup of wine.

"Quintus, me old son...this Lucius Petrus Dextrus, where does he live?" The Doctor asked.

"Nothing to do with me." Quintus said, disinterestedly.

The Doctor nodded. He walked forward so that he was beside the lounge. "This Lucius Petrus Dextrus..." He started to repeat and pulled a coin out from behind Quintus' ear, smirking to himself when he saw the boy's amazement and the desire in his eyes once he caught sight of the gold coin. "Where does he live?"

* * *

Quintus, who was holding a torch, led the Doctor through a row of empty streets and stopped outside a house, which, the Doctor assumed, was the chief augur's.

"Don't tell my dad." Quintus warned.

The Doctor leapt onto a barrel in an impressive show, before climbing onto the windowsill. "Only if you don't tell mine." The Doctor gave him a parting glance before entering the villa.

* * *

When the Doctor entered the inside of Lucius' villa, it was completely dark with the exception of the light coming from the hypocaust.

"Pass me that torch." The Doctor told Quintus.

The Doctor looked around, making sure that no one was around. Quintus looked around, himself, nervously, before climbing through the window and joining the Doctor. The Doctor looked quickly behind a curtain and then handed Quintus the torch. With both hands free, the Doctor pulled down the curtain to reveal more pieces of marble with circuitry etched on them.

"The liar." Quintus said, staring the tablets. "He told my father it was the only one."

The Doctor slipped on his glasses and made to inspect the pieces of marble more closely. "Well...plenty of marble merchants in this town. Tell them all the same thing; get all the components from different places so no one can see what you're building." He explained.

"Which is what?" Quintus asked, looking at the Doctor.

"The future…Doctor." The Doctor and Quintus turned around, quickly. "We are building the future as dictated by the gods."

* * *

Evelina laughed as Donna and Rhea got used their new Roman gowns. Donna's was a purple gown that fell to her feet with half-sleeves and scoop neck. Rhea didn't even need to change, she just figured it would get hot very soon in her long white and black Indian dress.

"You're not supposed to laugh. Thanks for that." Donna said, wryly.

"I don't know, I think we look pretty ridiculous." Rhea said as she looked down at the pale green Roman dress she wore.

"What do you think?" Donna struck a pose, looking at Evelina and Rhea. "The goddess Venus."

"Definitely." Rhea said, grinning.

"Oh, that's sacrilege." Evelina said, laughing in disbelief.

Donna smiled and the two took their place on the bed beside Evelina. "Nice to see you laugh, though." Donna commented. "What do you do in old Pompeii, then...girls your age? You got...mates? Do you go hangin' about 'round the shops? T.K. Maximus?"

Evelina shook her head. "I'm promised to the sisterhood for the rest of my life."

Rhea frowned. "Do you get any choice in that?"

Evelina stared at her, confused. "It's not my decision. I have the gift of sight. The sisters chose for me." She said, slowly, as if she were explaining this to a child.

"Then… what can you see happening tomorrow?" Donna asked, hesitating.

Rhea stifled a groan and hung her head. _Donna doesn't plan to quit, does she?_

Evelina's eyebrows furrowed. "Is tomorrow special?"

"You tell me. What do you see?"

Evelina closed her eyes. "The sun will rise. The sun will set. Nothing special at all." She opened her eyes.

"Look…" Donna started, ignoring Rhea's glare. "Don't tell the Doctor I said anything 'cause he'll kill me...but I've got a prophecy too."

Evelina covered her eyes with her palms, but still was able to hear anything that Donna said.

"Evelina, I'm sorry," Donna said, mistaking Evelina's reaction as one of despair. "But you've got to hear me out..." Evelina didn't seem to be paying attention to her. "Evelina, can you hear me? Listen."

"There is only one prophecy." Evelina said, stubbornly.

"But everything I'm about to say to you is true. I swear." Donna pleaded. "Just listen to me."

"Donna, don't you dare." Rhea warned, dangerously.

But Donna ignored Rhea. "Tomorrow, that mountain is going to explode. Evelina, please listen. The air is going to fill with ash and rocks...tons and tons of it and...this whole town is gonna get buried."

Evelina shook her head and Rhea's eyes closed.

"That's not true." Evelina said.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, but everyone's gonna die." Donna said, sadly. "Even if you don't believe me, just tell your family to get out of town...just for one day, just for tomorrow. But you've got to get out! Just leave Pompeii!"

Evelina looked upset and angry. "This is false prophecy!" She cried out and removed her hands from her eyes.

* * *

The Doctor was arranging the marble slabs. "Put this one...there." He murmured, taking another one from Quintus. "This one...there. Uh...I'll keep that one upside down. What have you got?"

"Enlighten me." Lucius said, folding his arms.

"What?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The soothsayer doesn't know?"

"The seed may float on the breeze in any direction."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. But...it's an energy converter." He said, pointing at the slabs of marble.

Lucius frowned. "An energy converter of what?"

The Doctor grinned. "I don't know. Isn't that _brilliant_? I love not knowing, keeps me on my toes." He walked over to stand beside Lucius. "It must be awful, being a prophet. Waking up every morning, "Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so." Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius? Hmm? Who gave you these instructions?" The Doctor looked at Lucius, waiting for an answer.

Lucius glared at him. "I think you've babbled long enough."

The Doctor sighed. "Lucius, really, tell me honestly. I'm on your side. I can help."

"You insult the gods!" Lucius growled. "There can be only one sentence. At arms!"

Lucius' guards stormed into the room and the Doctor backed away, removing his glasses quickly.

"Oh, morituri te salutant." The Doctor muttered.

"Celtic prayers won't help you now." Lucius said, making the Doctor roll his eyes.

"But it was him, sir. He made me do it. Sir Dextrus, please don't." Quintus begged, shifting his eyes between the Doctor and Lucius.

The Doctor's shoulders slumped and he gave Quintus a disappointed glance. "Come on now, Quintus...dignity in death. I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it?" The Doctor said, slowly, holding out a hand. "Come on." He wiggled the fingers of the hand he had extended. "Dying man's wish?" He tried. Then, he lunged, grabbed Lucius' hand and yanked as hard as he could, giving a knowing look when Lucius' arm came right off.

"But he's…" Quintus stammered.

"Show me." The Doctor said, grimly, staring at the stone hand he was holding.

Lucius threw back his cloak to reveal the stump of a stone arm. "The work of the gods."

"He's stone!" Quintus exclaimed.

"'Armless enough, though." The Doctor joked. "Whoops!" He threw the arm back at Lucius and ran. "Quintus!"

Quintus threw his torch at one of the guards and clambered out of the window, while the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver on the circuits.

"Out! Out! Out! Hurry!" The Doctor shouted.

"The carvings!" Lucius cried out.

The Doctor jumped from the window onto the street.

"Run!" The Doctor shouted at Quintus.

They raced through the streets until the Doctor was sure that none of the guards were following them.

"No sign of 'em. Nice little bit of allons-y. I think we're all right." The Doctor said, panting. He patted the young man on the shoulder

"But his arm, Doctor. Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Quintus asked, with a worried look on his face.

Suddenly, they heard a loud booming sound. The Doctor's eyes widened.

"What's that?" The Doctor asked, looking around.

"The mountain?" Quintus asked and they both turned around as the sound continued.

"No," The Doctor shook his head. "It's closer."

The thudding continued and stalls and baskets near the two fell over, even though there didn't seem to be anything there.

"They're footsteps." The Doctor murmured.

"It can't be." Quintus shook his head.

"Footsteps underground." The Doctor said, staring at the underground with amazement.

"What is it? What is it?" Quintus said, panicking.

The Doctor turned Quintus around, forcibly, and they continued running. As they passed vents, steam blew up like geysers.

* * *

A/N: And there we go! The first part of _The Fires of Pompeii_, which showed quite a bit into Rhea's view on her travels with the Doctor. She accepts what he has to do and she goes along with him, because she understands he knows better. The explanation of what happens when you alter a fixed point was based on _The Wedding of River Song_ and the information from the Doctor Who Wiki. And there was an interesting prediction from the soothsayers about Rhea, wasn't there? I do have plans for _Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey's End_, however, as series finales go, I plan on doing _Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords_ first. Season 4's finales won't be for awhile, I just wanted to get it out there. The prediction was kind of hard to write, I wrote like six different versions of it before choosing this one, so hopefully you all like it!

The chapters after the next one will be much slower because I start university in two weeks (exactly, actually) and I have four orientation days over the next two weeks as well. I'm wicked nervous about starting university. Because I'm starting uni, I wanted to have quite a few chapters written as I post, so the next chapter will be posted on the 13th, but any ones after that will have to wait until maybe Monday next week or even later.

Don't worry, though, I have posted the cover for _Voyage of the Damned _on my Tumblr, go check it out!

Anyway, Read and Review!


	22. The Fires of Pompeii: City of Dust

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, Idris would have stayed permanently and she and the Doctor would be a total power couple.

A/N: Here's the second chapter for _The Fires of Pompeii_. I was originally going to do one chapter for this episode but it kept writing itself until it was over 12000 words, so I just split it into two. And you got to me a 100 reviews! YES! As promised, a snippet for my TimeLady!OC fanfic is at the bottom of the chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Notes on Reviews:

Mionerocks: I'm glad you liked the chapter! Hope you like this one as well

YingWhiteyWolf: I know the predictions did seem a bit melodramatic, but Rhea's role in Season 4's finale is sort of complicated, that's why I felt the need to do that. I had a look at a few other versions of this chapter, you know, with OCs and Rose included, and the predictions for them have been quite extensive. That prediction was really a two-part prediction for Rhea. Only the second part will happen in _Journey's End_, the other one will happen in a different episode, I can't tell you yet My Indian knowledge comes from the fact that I am Indian, myself, but to be honest, a lot of research as I go along. A sari is an Indian garment that wraps around a woman's waist (it's tucked into a petticoat) and then draped over the shoulder. I know, I know, I did promise the Eleventh Doctor soon, and you will get it. It should be Chapter 25, I will be doing an episode with the Eleventh Doctor and Rhea will get to meet Amy and Rory.

Tooclosefortety: Rhea will be on the Doctor's side in _The Fires of Pompeii_. Actually, that will be a point of contention between the two.

Nights Eternal Dream: A part of me didn't like Donna in this episode either, because Donna didn't ask him to explain what would happen if they tried to change a fixed point in time, but the Doctor didn't tell her either when he saw that she was upset by letting 20000 people die, so, in my opinion, I didn't like the way either of them acted in the first part. I did like the sense of companionship they formed at the end. Donna was willing to sacrifice herself for Pompeii and that was important for the Doctor, and she did change his mind in the end. I'm not really fussed about telling people things about me. If your actually interested, then I don't mind saying (unless, of course, you want to know things like my address and phone number). I'm going to be studying Law in university. I'm both absolutely terrified and ecstatic to do it. I think it'll be interesting but really heavy, so I'm afraid of how often I'll be able to update this story, but there's a note about that in the end-of-chapter notes.

I'mtakingallyoudownwithme: I'm so glad you like the story. And I'm happy that my chapter made you feel better. Hangovers must suck. Wow, I can't believe you think this is the best you've ever read. That's one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten. And I am hoping you're an Aussie as well. It's nice to know I get bonus points for that. Yeah, I do get quite a bit of holidays, but my week is fairly empty, so I will have some spare time in the first few weeks, but after that, I'm not so sure.

Warnings: Swearing

* * *

The Fires of Pompeii: City of Dust

"_They're footsteps." The Doctor murmured._

"_It can't be." Quintus shook his head._

"_Footsteps underground." The Doctor said, staring at the underground with amazement._

"_What is it? What is it?" Quintus said, panicking._

_The Doctor turned Quintus around, forcibly, and they continued running. As they passed vents, steam blew up like geysers._

The Doctor and Quintus ran back inside Caecilius' villa. "Caecilius! All of you, get out!" The Doctor shouted at Metella and Caecilius, who were gathered in the main room.

"Doctor, what is it?" Rhea asked, coming into the room.

The Doctor looked at her, grimly, gripping her arms tightly. "I think we're being followed."

Suddenly, the grill covering the hypocaust was flung into the air.

"Just get out!" The Doctor shouted, trying to herd them out the door.

The ground beneath the hypocaust cracked and everyone could hear a loud growling. Everyone stood still. A massive creature made of magma and stone forced its way through the crack.

"Oh, my god." Donna whispered.

"The gods are with us." Evelina sobbed.

"Fuck." Rhea breathed. _It's like a burning Transformer._

"Water! We need water! Quintus, all of you, get water! Donna! Rhea!" The Doctor shouted, moving forward so that he stood in between Caecilius' family and the creature.

Rhea, Donna, Quintus and one of the servants ran out of the room. One of the servants towards the creature.

"Blessed are we to see the gods." He said, nervously.

The creature blew out a breath of fire and the servant was turned to ash. The Doctor approached, hesitatingly, hands out in a surrender.

"Talk to me! That's all I want! Talk to me. Tell me who you are. Don't hurt these people." The Doctor pleaded.

Rhea and Donna brought bag jugs full of water, when Rhea was struck from behind with something hard, sending her to the floor, unconscious. Donna was looking at her with alarm, when red-robed women silenced her by covering her mouth with their hands and dragging both women off.

"Talk to me. I'm the Doctor. Tell me who you are." The Doctor repeated.

The creature prepared to breathe on the Doctor just as Quintus and the servant returned with urns. Quintus dipped the urn in the pool, slowly.

"Doctor!" Quintus shouted and the Doctor grabbed the urn as well.

The Doctor and Quintus threw the water at the creature and it seemed to freeze before falling and crumbling to pieces.

"What was it?" Caecilius asked, softly, terrified.

"Carapace of stone...held together by internal magma. Not too difficult to stop. But I reckon that's just a foot soldier."

"Doctor...or whatever your name is...you bring bad luck in this house." Metella hissed, glaring at him.

The Doctor gave her a quick look. "I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?" Quintus looked at him, amazed that he had actually said something.

Metella's face softened and she reached out to hug her son. Caecilius approached as well, running his hand through his son's hair, affectionately.

"Still…" The Doctor shrugged. "Guess there are aliens at work in Pompeii and it's a good thing we stayed. Donna!" He turned around and saw neither of the two women he had come with. "Rhea? Rhea!"

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me." Donna said, as the two women were tied down to a sacrificial altar, while two red-robed women stood above them, holding identical daggers over their bodies.

"You're telling me, Red." Rhea sighed, glaring at the woman holding the knife over her body.

"The false prophets will surrender both their blood and their breath." The women intoned.

"I'll surrender you in a minute. Don't you dare!" Donna shouted.

"Let me out of these ropes and we'll see who surrenders, you twisted bitch!" Rhea spat, thrashing in her restraints."

"You will be silent!" The women snapped at them.

"God, what is this, The fucking Shining!" Rhea groaned.

"You might have eyes on the back of your hands but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I finish with you! Let me...go!" Donna shouted.

"This prattling will cease...forever." The women raised the daggers, about to bury them into their chests.

"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor mused, leaning against a pillar.

Rhea looked over and glared at him. "Hey, 007, nice of you to show up." She said, sarcastically.

"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sybil." The woman, who was holding the dagger above Donna's body, hissed.

"Oh, that's all right, just us girls." The Doctor waved. He started to walk towards them. "Do you know, we met the Sibyl once." The Doctor ignored Rhea's growl of "spoilers" and continued. "Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. Rhea would just shoot her. She said, "I know". Well, she would." He remarked. He stopped in front of the altar. "You all right there?" He asked, looking at Donna and Rhea.

"Oh, never better." Donna said, sarcastically.

"Honey, while I am a total fan of bondage, I'd rather it be you tying me down and not the rejects from the Ya-Ya Sisterhood!" Rhea growled, struggling in the restraints.

"I like the togas." The Doctor said to Rhea and Donna, but specifically eyeing Rhea's one, flushing a little after her comment about the restraints. _Rhea and ropes, must try that out sometime…_

"Thank you. And the ropes?" Donna asked, acidly.

"Eh, not so much."

"Get. Us. Out. Of. Here." Rhea said, slowly and dangerously.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and used his sonic screwdriver on the ropes, loosening them so that the two women could get out.

"What magic is this?" One of the priestesses whispered, staring at the screwdriver in the Doctor's hand.

He flipped the sonic screwdriver and put it away. "Let me tell you about the Sibyl...the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. _Is_ that how you spread the word, eh? On the blade of a knife?" The Doctor asked, mockingly.

"Yes...a knife that now welcomes you!" The priestess screeched, raising her knife.

But Rhea was too quick for her.

She grabbed the priestess' wrist with both of her hands and twisted it to the left and pushed down. The heel of her foot came down in a graceful arch and slammed into the priestess' back, sending her to the floor with a scream. Rhea pushed her arm forward, breaking the priestess' arm and pressing the knife against the priestess' back. The priestess dropped the knife with a scream of pain and Rhea let the woman go, sobbing on the floor. She picked up the curved dagger and threw it away, out of anyone's reach.

"Try and hurt either of them again and this will be less _Charmed_ and more _Sorority Row_." Rhea snarled.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Donna asked. Rhea turned on her feet and saw the shocked and admiring look on her face.

She sighed. "That was a bit of Krav Maga and Aikido." She shrugged. "I improvised."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, surprised by the viciousness in her attack against the priestess. "You have to stop doing that." He warned Rhea.

She gave him a withering glare. "You stop getting soothsayers trying to stab you and policemen in the 1950s from punching you, and then I'll think about it." She said, patting him on the cheek, affectionately.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Donna asked her, pointing at the priestess.

Rhea shrugged. "Sure."

"Show me this man and woman." A raspy voice echoed through the hall from behind a curtain.

They all turned towards the curtain and everyone except for the Doctor, Rhea and Donna kneeled.

"High Priestess, the stranger would defy us!" A priestess protested.

"Let me see. These ones are different. They carry starlight in his wake." The high priestess said, hoarsely.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna approached the curtain, slowly.

"Ah, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?" The Doctor asked.

"The gods whisper to me."

"Oh, they've done far more than that. Ah, might I beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?" The Doctor asked.

The curtains parted and Rhea swore.

Donna gasped. "Oh my God! What's happened to you?"

The High Priestess sat upon a bed, her body nearly converted completely to stone.

"The heavens have blessed me." The High Priestess said.

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You look like one of Medusa's victims." She said, bluntly.

The Doctor levelled her with a glare, which she ignored. "If I might..." The Doctor motioned that he would like to move closer.

"Well, aren't you a diplomatic one." Rhea muttered under her breath.

The High Priestess raised her arm and the Doctor kneeled and touched it. "Does it hurt?"

"It is necessary."

"Who told you that?"

"The voices." She rasped.

"Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Donna asked and then turned to the other sisters. "Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?"

A priestess approached, the sleeve of her red robe pulled back. "The blessings are manifold."

Rhea touched the priestess' arm. "It's stone."

"Exactly." The Doctor said, standing and walking back over to them. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"

"This word...this image in your mind, this "volcano", what is that?" The High Priestess asked.

"More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"High Priestess of the Sibylline."

"No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust in the lungs...taking over the flesh and turning it into...what?"

"Your knowledge is impossible."

"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are!" The Doctor roared.

"We...are...awakening!" The High Priestess said, hoarsely, her voice changing into more like an echo.

"Okay, this is less like _Clash of the Titans_ and more like _The _fucking_ Exorcist!"_ Rhea hissed at the Doctor, gripping his hand tightly, her skin crawling when she heard the rasp of the High Priestess. "I bet if we sprinkled holy water on her, she'd burn."

"The voice of the gods!" The priestess shouted.

"Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power." The Sibylline sisters chanted.

"Name yourself! Planet of origin, galactic coordinates, species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation." The Doctor ordered.

"We...are...rising!" The High Priestess echoed.

"Tell me your name!" The Doctor growled.

The High Priestess threw back her hood. "Pyrovile!"

"Pyrovile. Pyrovile." The sisters chanted.

"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked.

"Well, that's a Pyrovile...growing inside her. She's at the halfway stage." The Doctor explained.

"And that turns into?" Rhea turned to the Doctor.

"That thing in the villa, that was an adult Pyrovile."

"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor." The High Priestess said.

"I warn you...We're armed." The Doctor pulled out a clear yellow pistol and Rhea parted the skirt of her toga at the side and pulled her blaster out of the holster she had strapped to her thigh. "Donna, get that grille open."

"What are...?" Donna trailed off, looking at both of them with shock.

Rhea narrowed her eyes at the gun in the Doctor's eyes, recognising it as a water gun. She resisted the urge to laugh, and instead wondered what the Doctor was planning to do with it.

"Just…" He jerked back his head and Donna moved over to the hypocaust. "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"

"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust."

"Right. Creatures of stone shatter on impact. When was that, 17 years ago?" The Doctor asked.

"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."

"Okay, so 17 years ago woke you up and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourself, but why the psychic powers?"

"We opened their minds and found such gifts."

"Yeah, okay, fine. You force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that. Yeah, but... seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?" The Doctor asked.

The High Priestess moaned.

"I got it!" Donna said from her position at the grill.

"Go down." Rhea ordered.

Rhea and the Doctor moved towards Donna's reaction, their guns pointed at the High Priestess and the sisters.

"What, down there?" Donna asked, incredulously.

"Yes, down there! Why can't this lot predict the volcano? Why is it being hidden?" The Doctor demanded.

"Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless." One of the priestesses told the others.

"Mine isn't." Rhea raised the gun but the Doctor shoved her arm down.

"Yeah, but it's got a sting!" The Doctor said, pulling the trigger of the water gun, which shot water at the High Priestess, making her scream in pain as she smoked. "Get down there!" Rhea and Donna dropped down through the opening and the Doctor followed.

"You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you." Donna crowed, once they were inside the tunnels of the volcano.

Rhea laughed. "I was right. I said she'd burn when you poured water all over her." She paused. "Does this mean she's a demon?"

The Doctor got up. "This way." He pointed.

"Where are we going now?" Donna asked.

The Doctor looked back. "Into the volcano."

"I'll kill you for this." Rhea told the Doctor, making him grin at her.

"No way." Donna said.

"Yes way." The Doctor twirled the pistol around a finger. "Appian way."

"Don't you just hate him sometimes?" Rhea muttered to Donna as they followed him.

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna walked through the tunnels towards Vesuvius.

"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right? For you to stop it?" Donna asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Still part of history."

"Well, I'm history too. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?"

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed."

Donna frowned. "How do you know which is which?"

The Doctor stopped, forcing the other two to stop as well.

"Because that's how I see the universe." The Doctor said, quietly. "Every waking second, I can see what is, what was...what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna… I'm the only one left." He murmured, the pain in his eyes reflected in his words.

Rhea reached forward and wrapped her arm around his waist, nuzzling her head into his arm. She pressed her lips to the inside of his arm, trying to offer him a tiny bit of comfort, just to make him feel better.

"How many people died?" Donna continued once they started walking on.

"Donna, stop it!" Rhea warned.

"Doctor!" Donna shouted. He stopped, reluctantly, and turned to face her. "How many people died?"

"Twenty thousand." The Doctor said, through gritted teeth.

"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All 20,000? And you think that's all right, do you?" Donna asked.

Suddenly, the screech of one of the Pyrovile echoed through the tunnels.

"They know we're here! Come on." The Doctor growled, directing them forward, ahead of him.

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna arrived in a huge cavern in the volcano.

"It's the heart of Vesuvius." The Doctor murmured, as they watched a few Pyroviles walking around a great sphere, made of rock, in the centre of the cavern. "We're right inside the mountain."

"There's tons of 'em." Donna breathed.

The Doctor eyed the sphere and pulled out a small, collapsible telescope. "What's that thing?"

Rhea swallowed hard and looked back, hearing the vibrations from the ground grow closer. "I think you'd better hurry up and think of something, 'cause I think Optimus Prime's heading our way."

The Doctor could see the interior of a ship on the side of the cavern. "That's how they arrived...or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship?" He paused. "Gene bank?" He collapsed his telescope.

"But why do they need a volcano? Maybe...it erupts and they launch themselves back in space or something." Donna mused.

"No, it's worse than that." The Doctor said.

Rhea snorted. "How could it be worse?" She heard a Pyrovile roar. "Doctor, it's getting closer."

"Heathens!" They heard a male voice shout and looked up to see Lucius standing up in a higher platform in the cavern. "Defilers! They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!" He shouted.

"Oh, that's just wonderful." Rhea said, sarcastically, before the Doctor grabbed her and Donna's hand and pulled them along, shouting "Come on!"

They ran across the cavern floor, towards the Pyrovilians.

"We can't go in!" Donna protested.

"We can't go back." The Doctor countered.

Rhea and Donna held the skirts of their dresses over their ankles as they ran forward.

"Crush them! Burn them!" Lucius roared.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna were halted as one of the Pyrovilians rose in front of them. The Doctor pulled out the water pistol and pulled the trigger, spraying water all over the Pyrovile, making it writhe in pain as it shied away. The Doctor took a look at Lucius and the three continued to run.

"There is nowhere to run, Doctor...and Daughter of Arabia, Daughter of London."

The Doctor stood in front of the sphere in the middle of the cavern. "Now then, Lucius. My lord Pyrovillian...don't get yourselves in a lava." He looked at the two women who gave him exasperated glances. "In a lava...no?"

"No." Donna and Rhea said, simultaneously.

"No. But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish...once this new race of creatures is complete...then what?" The Doctor asked.

A Pyrovile stormed towards them, crushing boulders in its path.

"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself, an almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilization." Lucius said.

"You have all of this technology, why the hell don't you just go home?" Rhea asked him,

"The heaven of Pyrovillia is gone." Lucius said.

The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean "gone"? Where's it gone?" The Doctor asked, incredulously. _How could a planet just be gone?_

"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for our new species to rise." Lucius explained.

"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there." The Doctor said.

"Water can boil and everything will burn, Doctor!"

The Doctor put his water pistol away. "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you, that's all I needed to know. Rhea! Donna!" He pushed them into the pod and followed, using the sonic screwdriver on the door to lock them inside.

"Could we be anymore trapped?" Rhea asked, sarcastically.

The heat increased inside the pod. Donna fanned her face. "Little bit hot."

"See, the energy converted takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix which wields Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."

"Can you fix it? Can't you change it with the controls?" Rhea asked.

"'Course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're gonna use it to take over the world."

Rhea's eyes widened as she realised where he was going with this. _If the Pyroviles are the reason why Vesuvius won't erupt. If Pompeii has to be destroyed, we have to be the ones… Jesus Christ…._

"But you can change it back." Donna continued, not realising the emptiness in Rhea's eyes as her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Well, I can avert the system, so the volcano will blow them up, yes, but...that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world." The Doctor finished, looking at Donna in the eye.

"Oh, my god." Donna whispered, in shock.

"If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen." The Doctor murmured, still as stone and his eyes flat.

"But the Pyrovile are made of rock. Maybe they can't be blown up." Donna protested.

The Doctor started working on the controls. "Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it." He looked at Rhea and Donna. "Certainly not us."

Donna gave him a heartfelt look. "Never mind us."

He looked at Rhea. The last thing he wanted to do was put her in danger. "Don't look at me like that! Who cares about us?" Rhea said, shrugging, her eyes swimming with emotion that only he could understand.

He smiled, sadly, at her and entwined their fingers together.

The Doctor put his hands on the lever, letting go of Rhea's momentarily. He wanted her to spare having this on her conscience. "Push this lever and it's all over. 20,000 people." He whispered.

The Doctor paused, still unwilling to be responsible for so many people's deaths, even if it was at the cost of the planet. Donna put her hands on the lever above is. Rhea exhaled and she wound her fingers in the Doctor's and Donna's hands, the three of them looking at each other before pressing down.

The mountain shook and erupted, sending ash and the pod into the air.

The Doctor, Rhea and Donna frantically tried to grab onto something to hold onto as they were thrown about.

Once the shaking had stopped, the Doctor climbed out of the pod, lifting Rhea and Donna out of the pod as well, all three shaken.

"It _was_ an escape pod." The Doctor said, the surprise clear in his voice.

Rhea looked behind and saw a massive stream of ash heading straight for them. "Never mind that, run!" She shouted, and the Doctor grabbed her hand and Donna's hand and they ran for it.

* * *

As the ash began to fall on Pompeii and blotted out the sun, the Doctor, Rhea and Donna rushed into the marketplace, amidst people panicking and screaming as they tried to escape the town. They tried to make their way back to the TARDIS despite all of the chaos and Donna tried to warn whoever would listen.

"Don't! Don't go to the beach! Don't go to the beach, go to the hills! Listen to me! Don't go to the beach, it's not safe! Listen to me...!" Donna shouted, her voice going hoarse by the end of it. She spotted a little boy, crying and alone, and went over to him. "Come here."

But before she could take him in her arms, his mother snatched him away. "Give him to me!"

Donna just stood there, crying and devastated, and Rhea and the Doctor took one of hands each, pulling her away.

"Come on, we have to go!" Rhea shouted over the screaming.

When they arrived back at Caecilius' villa, they saw that the entire family was huddled in one corner.

"Gods save us, Doctor!" Caecilius shouted.

The Doctor stared at them for a minute, an unreadable look on his face, before he pulled Rhea along back to the TARDIS.

"You can't! Doctor, Rhea, you can't!" Donna screamed at them, just standing there.

The Doctor was at the console, Rhea standing motionless next to him, just leaning against the console, her eyes closed. He pressed a button and prepared the TARDIS for dematerialisation.

"You can't just leave them!" Donna shouted, storming into the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked up and glared at her. "Don't you think I've done enough?" He spat. "History's back in place and everyone dies."

"You've got to go back! Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back!" Donna screamed.

But the Doctor wasn't listening. He released the brake and the TARDIS started to dematerialise. His face showed no emotion, whereas Donna's face was streaked with tears, that were still streaming down her face.

"It's not fair." She whispered.

"No, it's not."

"But your own planet, it burned." Donna said, unable to understand why the Doctor was willing to let this family burn.

The Doctor looked at her. "That's just it. Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back! I can't! I just...can't!" He looked down, pursing his lips, his voice growing softer with weariness and pain. "I can't."

Rhea's hand slid across the console until it was barely touching his. He gratefully took it, clutching onto it like a port in a storm. Rhea didn't take her eyes of the time rotor, not confident that she would be able to control herself if she looked at Donna or the Doctor. Tears didn't glisten in her eyes, but they were pained. Her posture was stiff and uncompromising. She was willing to go along with whatever decision the Doctor made.

"Just someone. Please." Donna begged. "Not the whole town. Just save someone."

The Doctor looked down at Rhea, begging with his eyes for her to say something, to stand by his side as he let more people burn, as she had always done, or for her to argue, take Donna's side, force him to be a human being when she knew he wasn't, show him that sympathetic, trusting, sweet girl he knew she could be when she wanted to, not that hardened, dangerous, elegant woman with ambiguous morals and a seductive mask, who was more likely to shoot someone in the head before letting them hurt someone she cared about. But he knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't change. Not this Rhea. This Rhea would wait and let Pompeii burn, just as he would.

Those were the reasons he was surprised when she turned to stare at him with unreadable, dark green eyes.

"I studied a man named Caecilius in school. He did a lot of business with Egypt after the destruction of Pompeii." She paused. "Maybe Pompeii has to burn, but that doesn't mean everyone has to die." Rhea murmured.

And the Doctor made his decision.

* * *

Caecilius and his family huddled together as ash fell, the terror on their faces evident. They heard a groaning and wheezing sound and a bright white light filled the room as the TARDIS materialised. One of the doors opened and the figure of the Doctor could be seen, silhouetted by the white light. He held a hand out.

"Come with me."

Caecilius reached out his hand and grasped the Doctor's.

* * *

A cloud of ash and smoke flew over the town like a tsunami. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna, along with Caecilius and his family, watched from a hill overlooking Pompeii.

"It is never forgotten, Caecilius." The Doctor said. "Oh time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade, but one day...Pompeii will be found again...in thousands of years..."

"And everyone will remember you." Rhea finished, resting a hand on Metella's shoulder.

Donna turned to the grief-stricken young girl. "What about you, Evelina? Can you see anything?"

She shook her head. "The visions have gone."

"The explosion was so powerful, it cracked open a rift in time." The Doctor explained, lightly, as if it were normal to be discussing 'rifts in time'. "Just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free."

"But tell me...who are you, Doctor...with your words...and your temple containing such size within?" Metella whispered.

The Doctor smiled, wryly. "Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone." He warned.

"The great god Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of...volcano." His voice broke off from the extent of his grief. "All those people..." His hands reached out to bring Metella into an embrace.

Rhea looked over and saw Quintus take a step forward and take his sister's hand, offering the girl comfort, as the four watched their home be swallowed by fire and smoke. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna slipped back into the TARDIS, unbeknownst to the others.

"Thank you." Donna said, carefully, after a few moments.

"Yeah." The Doctor paused. "You were right. Sometimes we do need someone. Welcome aboard."

"Yeah." Donna whispered.

They smiled at each other.

* * *

Rhea was sitting on her bed, staring at nothing. She looked down at her hands, the ivory-white gun clutched in her hands. She glared at the weapon for a moment, before tossing it away onto the bed, next to her. She stood up, abruptly, and started to pace around the room, her hands running through her black curls, frequently, as she tried to cope with the stress of travelling with the Doctor. Donna had been noticeably upset after they had watched Pompeii burn and had retreated to her room after a cup of tea. Rhea had gagged at the mention of tea. She was a stickler when it came to drinks. She only drank ginger tea, and only when it was made by her grandmother or her father. Her mother was the only one who got her coffee order correct and she was the only one she trusted to get her coffee from Starbucks. She nursed the cup of tea she had made in the kitchen of the TARDIS. She put the cup down on the table and her pacing resumed.

"You stupid bitch." Rhea muttered to herself.

There was a series of knocks on the door and Rhea called out for whoever was on the other side to enter. The Doctor opened the door just a bit, sticking his head through the gap and smiled when he saw her face, a complete contrast to her mood. The Doctor walked into the room and took a seat on the bed, bouncing a little.

"Why did you leave the kitchen?" The Doctor asked, a frown on his handsome face.

She picked up her tea and took a sip, not willing to say anything without something in her body, and it was a little too early for alcohol. "I prefer drinking tea alone." She said, a grim expression on her face.

The frown on the Doctor's face remained, though. "Are you angry at me, Rhea?" He asked, hesitating, dreading the answer.

She smiled, wryly, at him. "Should I be?" Rhea asked, lightly, not willing to give anything away.

The anger began to rise in the Doctor and he tensed. This was so like Rhea. The walls and the stupid, breezy comments that only served for her to widen the distance between them, so she could pull away and put her mask back on. "Rhea, for once in your life, would you give me a straight answer?" He said, sharply.

Rhea's eyes darkened in anger. "Oh, please," She scoffed, her own anger evident in her voice. "You're the fucking king of no-straight-answers." She hissed.

"Why are you angry at me?" The Doctor snapped.

"Because you think I'm a monster!" She shouted.

The Doctor reared back, as if she had slapped him. He had never thought that. Nine hundred years, give or take, of knowing her, of being with her, he had never thought she was a monster. _Where the hell did she get that idea from?_ "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't give me that crap." Rhea snorted. "The way you looked at me after I knocked out that policeman in 1953 or after I broke that soothsayer's arm after she tried to stab you. The fact that I was willing to burn Pompeii along with you." Rhea shook her head. "I don't need a fucking sign to see your disappointment in me." She said, ashamed at how weakly she spoke. _I don't need his goddamn approval. I can be as violent as I like. Who the hell is he to look down at me?_

The Doctor shook his head and stood up, abruptly, walking over to her, so that there was barely any distance between them. "I never said you were a monster." He growled.

"Oh, but the Rhea you know isn't one, right?" Rhea asked, sarcastically. "She's probably sweet and nice and you can't stand to see the difference, can you?" She asked, mockingly, determined to push his buttons, but it only served to make her angrier. "I asked you on Nari VI and you told me that I wasn't a replacement."

"You aren't!"

"Of course I am!" Rhea snapped and she didn't know why it hurt. "You can't have her, so you're making do with me." She glared at him. Her chest actually ached. "I'm not that kind of girl anymore." She finished, quietly, looking away.

The Doctor let out an exasperated growl and gripped her shoulders tightly, forcibly turning her towards him. "You are not a replacement." He enunciated, slowly, trying his hardest to make sure those words were imprinted in her mind. If this was a different time and a different Rhea, he might have moved his fingers to her temple and actually _shown_ her what he meant, but it was too early in her timeline for that. "You silly, stupid girl, how could you ever be a replacement." He said, earnestly, pulling her closer, so that she was pressed against his body.

"You want a girl I can't be." Rhea said with an intentional hard edge to her voice, determined not to give in, despite how nice his body felt against his. "And that's never going to happen."

"You're never the same." The Doctor explained as sincerely as he possibly could. "Every time you show up, I never know what to expect. You're the only one I've ever met that constantly keeps me on my toes."

Rhea faltered, slightly, hearing no criticism in his words. _Well, there goes my theory about being the replacement_. She ripped herself away from his grasp and stalked back over to the table, taking a long swig of her drink. "It doesn't matter, you still don't accept me the way I am." She accused. "How else am I supposed to take that?"

"I don't condone violence." He agreed. "But, you, you only act violent when someone you care about is in danger." He said, softly. He smiled at her. "Especially when it's me."

She smacked her lips, unsure of how to proceed now. She could retreat into her warm, safe mask where no one could touch her, especially not this larger-than-life guy who was responsible for an unknown ache in her chest. _Oh, great, he's reduced me to quoting 'Holding Out For An Hero'._ Or she could buck up, swallow her pride, apologise and smack herself for being so damn maudlin. _When have I ever picked the right way?_

She swallowed hard. "I don't want to be that girl. The kind of girl that's okay with burning twenty-thousand people without a second thought."

"I wouldn't want you to be that girl, either." The Doctor said, quietly.

She gave him a sad smile.

He walked over, cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead for a few seconds. Her eyes closed when she felt his lips on her skin and she rested her hands on his hips. When they broke away, she smiled a bit shyly at him and silently cursed herself for her sentimentality.

In her eyes, feelings made you weak, and being weak got you killed pretty damn quick.

* * *

A/N: And there's the end of _The Fires of Pompeii_. I hoped you like the way I did this chapter. And she's pulling away again. It's like one step forward, two steps back with Rhea. Poor Doctor. I wanted to add a different dynamic between Rhea and the Doctor in this chapter, and it's something that Donna brought up in _The Runaway Bride_. Rhea is violent, she's quite remorseless sometimes, and a dark side sometimes and that's something that she's made herself to be, she wasn't always like that. And that does conflict with the Doctor's lifestyle, and it will be a point of contention between this Doctor and Rhea. Of course, it will be interesting when we get to _The Doctor's Daughter_. Rhea did get angry with the Doctor in this chapter. She felt like the Doctor was only using her as a replacement until he got the Rhea he wanted.

And I have some bad news… unfortunately, this will be the last update for a few days, probably around a week. I've only written so much and I want to get ahead, especially since I start university in two weeks. I want to have at least five chapters written ahead, then only will I update. But, don't worry, I'll still be posting some pictures to do with the story on my Tumblr, so go and check it out!

And below is the sneak preview for _Bad Moon Rising_.

* * *

**Doctor/OC**

The Doctor clenched the edges of the console and then rubbed the tracks of tears on his face away, roughly, with his hands. A cool hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed and he closed his eyes, as the comforting thrum in his mind spread across his whole body. A slender, feminine arm wrapped around his waist and he felt her presence curled into his side.

"She told me she was in love with me." The Doctor said, gruffly.

"I know, I heard." She said, lightly but sympathetically. He wondered if it were a mask. She never used to wear a mask with him. There was a pause. "What did you tell her?"

He abruptly turned so that he was facing her. Fury coursed through him and bile rose in his throat. He gripped her shoulders tight, staring at her unflinching face, intently. Her unflinching, _accepting_ face. He tried to find a small piece of the woman who had trusted him above every person in the universe, known him better than anyone else. His hearts cracked into tiny million pieces and he wondered what had happened between the two of them in the last two years, what he had done to her, to make her _doubt_ what he would have said to Rose on that beach.

If his ninth regeneration was here, he would have been knocked out cold for putting this kind of hesitancy and distrust in her.

"What did you think I would say to her?" The Doctor asked her, his eyes cold and his mouth set in a firm line.

"I don't know." She murmured, looking away from his dark eyes.

"Why not?" He asked, his voice a low growl. "Since when do you not know?" He let out a harsh, brittle laugh. "You know everything, remember? That's why they took you away from me."

His small triumph fell short when he saw the fear and pain in her eyes, desiring with both of his hearts to wipe it away completely. He realised with horror, what he had just said, what he had just thrown in her face. The familiar, all-encompassing need to protect her from anything that might harm her, harm someone who belonged to him, warred and emerged victorious over all other emotions.

* * *

Read and Review!


	23. The Shakespeare Code: Witches of London

The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, we'd be able to see how exactly Mickey and Martha got together.

A/N: I am back. Finally! I'm kind of frustrated at myself actually. But the past three weeks have allowed me to write five more chapters (which isn't _that _great), but it's the best I can do under the circumstances. Okay, this is another 10th Doctor episode, but the next one (so Chapter 25) will be a 11th Doctor episode and Rhea will get to meet Amy and Rory. I promise. This is also the second time Rhea meets Martha, as she met her in _The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky_, so it should be interesting. And what will the Doctor do if Shakespeare shows an interest in Rhea?

Notes on Reviews:

Crazy. PLEASE: Sorry, I couldn't send you a PM with my reply :( I'm so glad you like the story and thank you, I do hope I do justice to the Doctor and the companions. I know, not enough 11, but like the note above, Chapter 25 and on will feature the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory, I promise, I'm getting kind of anxious to get to them as well.

Tayla: I'm so glad you like the story. I love it how Rhea makes the Doctor blush. She really does it to get a rise out of him, but sometimes their flirting is intentional. I'm glad you like her and I'm sure she'd love to get to know you too, to be honest, she's 50-50 with anyone. You should see how she'll act towards River. Her past is quite complicated. There are a few things that have compounded to turn her into the person she is now. The Doctor is quite understanding with her, he knows what kind of person she is and he's pretty used to it, but he still gets angry when she gets overly violent. They'll be little hints to where her walls start breaking down. They both do have a darkness in them, I think it does add a different dynamic to their relationship. There are certain situations where the Doctor's morality conflicts with Rhea's decisions and others where Rhea's humanity affects her relationship with the Doctor.

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo.

* * *

The Shakespeare Code: Witches of London

"Where are we going now?" Donna asked, walking into the console room, having changed back into her purple shirt and jeans.

Rhea took a sip of her burning coffee. She looked at the Doctor, who was pressing a random button on the console. "Yeah, where?"

"How about we put her on random? Let her decide where to take us." The Doctor asked, smiling, a long slow, stretch of his mouth.

Rhea grinned at him and then looked at Donna. "That sounds like fun." She took a long, deep swig of her drink, draining the cup. She hummed when she actually felt better. When she screamed, the cup fell to the floor. Donna's eyes widened and she rushed over to her, the Doctor barely an inch behind.

Rhea's hands and nails dug into her hair, gripping her skull, as waves of sharp pain assaulted her. She shuddered and her hands clenched, involuntarily, due to the pain. The Doctor tightened his arms around her and forced her to look at him.

"Rhea," The Doctor began, soothingly. "Rhea, look at me." He said, his hands clutching her face, hating seeing her in pain, but ultimately couldn't stop it. "Everything is going to be fine."

Donna had tears in her eyes as she watched one of the strongest women she had ever met practically tearing her hair out in pain. "What's happening to her?" She cried out.

"She's leaving." The Doctor answered, grimly, not taking his eyes off Rhea for a second.

Donna looked at him, shocked and confused. "What do you mean, 'leaving'?"

"She's going to a different time in my life." The Doctor explained, stroking her hair as her head lolled onto his shoulder. He pressed his lips to her temple, rubbing her shoulder. "She'll appear in a different point in my timeline." He turned his attention back to Rhea. "It's alright, Rhea." He reared back when he saw the white glow, emanating from her fingertips and spreading across her body. He pulled Donna along with him as Rhea began to fade into the white light, disappearing, and soon after that, the white light itself was gone, leaving nothing behind.

When Rhea opened her eyes, she was still in the TARDIS, a little dimmer than she was used to, and the time machine was in flight. Rhea shrieked as she struggled to keep a hold of the railing, despite her weariness, familiar hands wrapping around her waist to keep her steady. She looked back to see the Doctor keeping a tight hold of her and a familiar dark-skinned woman grasping onto a strut for dear life.

"Oh, wonderful." Rhea deadpanned. "This is going to be a bumpy ride." She mimicked the voice of the shrunken head from _Prisoner of Azkaban._

When the rattling of the TARDIS stopped, Rhea sighed with relief, closing her eyes.

"See, this is why you shouldn't drive." Rhea grumbled.

The Doctor gave her a wounded look. "I drive just fine, thank you very much." He said, turning a wheel on the console, while Martha held onto the console to remain steady herself.

"Wait, is anyone going to explain how she did that?" Martha asked, gesturing at Rhea.

Rhea frowned and her eyes widened. "Oh, you mean the whole appearing in a bright white light thing?" At Martha's obvious nod, Rhea continued. "I get pulled through time and space at random moments." She said, casually, as if she were explaining how to make tea. "I don't understand it myself."

Martha nodded and swallowed, deciding to just go with her explanation. She turned her attention back to the Doctor. "But how do you travel in time? What makes it go?"

The Doctor grimaced and Rhea hid her smile. "Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything." He said, sarcastically. "Martha, you don't wanna know. It just does. Hold on tight!" He suggested, practically climbing onto the console. The two women were knocked to the floor, Martha lying in shock and Rhea glaring up at the Doctor, promising him pain, as he fell off the console.

Martha stood up, shakily. "Blimey! Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?"

"Yes, and he failed it." Rhea said, ignoring the Doctor's glare. "Oh, don't look at me like that, the TARDIS told me _everything_." She grinned, waggling her eyebrows.

The Doctor stroked the TARDIS. "Figures you'd give her more ammunition against me." The Doctor muttered to the TARDIS. Rhea laughed at the answering hum, feeling as though the TARDIS was laughing at the Doctor as well.

"Let's make the most of it." The Doctor said, handing Martha a maroon leather jacket. "I promised you one trip and one trip only. Outside this door..." He stopped at the door, dramatically, and faced her. "Brave new world." He murmured, with a knowing look in his eyes.

Martha smiled, excitedly. "Where are we?"

"Take a look." He opened the door. "After you, ladies."

With an intake of breath, Martha and Rhea walked outside and onto an Elizabethan street at night, with people milling about all over the place. Rhea's eyes widened and a smile stretched across her face and she looked back at the Doctor with an excited expression on her face.

"Oh, you are kidding me." Martha said, her jaw gaping. "You are _so_ kidding me. Oh, my God! We did it. We travelled in time. Where are we?" Martha shook her head. "No, sorry. I gotta get used to this whole new language. When are we?"

Rhea bounded back over and threw herself into the Doctor's arms, who caught her with a surprised laugh. She threw her arms around his waist and stood on her toes so that she could press her lips to his scruffy cheek. "Thank you." She murmured against his cheek, nuzzling the roughness. She pulled back and smiled at him. "I dig the scruffiness, by the way." She rubbed his cheek with her hand.

He grinned at her, wrapping an arm loosely around her waist and she curled into his side. Suddenly, he looked up and his hand reached out to pull Martha back towards them, just as a man dumped the contents of a bucket from a first-floor window. Rhea grimaced as the contents hit the ground and curled even tighter into the Doctor to protect herself.

"Mind the loo!" She heard the man saying.

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that." The Doctor said, answering Martha's question.

"I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift at A&E." Martha said.

The Doctor started to walk, pulling Rhea along with him.

"But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?" Martha asked, hesitating as she took a few steps forward.

The Doctor frowned, confused. "Of course we can. Why do you ask?"

"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly; you change the future of the human race." Martha said.

"You mean like in _Back to the Future 2_." Rhea said and Martha nodded. "It's called 'The Butterfly Effect'. Good question, is it real?" She looked up at the Doctor, inquisitively.

"Well, tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies." He looked back at them. "What have butterflies ever done to you two?"

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Ignore him, Martha, he likes insulting people, but he doesn't really think it's insulting." _He's kind of like Sheldon Cooper. _She would have mentioned that to Martha but she guessed it was somewhere between 2005, when she had met Rose and Biker Boy, and 2009, when they had been on the Titanic. She didn't know if _The Big Bang Theory _had even come out yet for Martha.

They continued walking.

"What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?" Martha asked.

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. "You planning to?"

"No."

"Well, then."

Martha looked around. "This is London."

"I think so. Right about 1599." The Doctor guessed.

Rhea's face fell in her disappointment. "I wanted to meet Anne Boleyn." She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging her arms.

"I'll take you to see her one day." The Doctor promised and was awarded with a beaming smile.

"Oh, but hold on. Am I all right? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave, am I?" Martha asked, worriedly.

Rhea grimaced. "Yeah, good point. What about me?"

The Doctor looked very confused. "Why would they do that?"

Rhea raised an eyebrow and pointed to herself and Martha. "We're not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed."

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm not even human. Just walk about like you own the place."

"It works for him." Rhea interjected, ignoring the Doctor's glare.

"Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there." He pointed at a man shovelling manure. "Recycling. Water cooler moment." He said, as they passed by two men conversing at a water barrel. Rhea snickered. They walked past a man preaching about the end of the world.

"... and the world will be consumed by flame!" The preacher shouted.

"Global warming." The Doctor commented and suddenly threw himself in front of the two women in a sudden burst of energy. "Oh, yes, and... entertainment! Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark right next to..." The Doctor grabbed their hands and they ran around a corner. "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre!" He exclaimed, gesturing to a massive round structure, with no ceiling, in the distance. "Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe; it's a tetradecagon, 14 sides, containing the man himself."

Martha's eyes widened. "Whoa, you don't mean... is Shakespeare in there?"

"Oh," Rhea rubbed her hands together, gleefully. "Let's go!" She smiled wide and gave the Doctor her widest puppy-dog eyes.

The Doctor grinned, fondly, at her and held out both of his arms for the two women to take. "Miss Jones, Miss Adwani, will you accompany me to the theatre?"

Martha linked her arm in his. "Yes, Mr. Smith, I will."

Rhea raised an eyebrow as she, too, linked her arm with his. "You sweet-talker you." She grinned, nuzzling into his shoulder as they walked down the unpaved street.

"When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare." The Doctor told Martha.

"Then I could get sectioned!" Martha exaggerated, grinning.

* * *

They walked in the Globe Theatre and shuffled into one of the stands, each stand packed to the inch with people, the rich in the higher ones and the poor in the lower ones. The people around them were applauding and cheering as the actors on the stage were taking their bows.

"I wonder what play was on tonight." Rhea murmured.

"That's amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah." Martha exclaimed.

"London never changes." The Doctor deadpanned and Rhea nudged him lightly in the stomach, making him laugh. The Doctor looked down at her, wanting her approval. "Well?"

Rhea grinned up at him and pressed her lips to his cheek, the second show of affection on that very day, which was incredibly odd for her. "Thank you," She whispered, but Martha was entranced by her experience. "This is wonderful." She said, meaning every word.

"Where's Shakespeare?" Martha eyes peered over the people standing in front of them. "Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare. Author! Author!" She started chanting with her fist in the air.

Rhea's nose crinkled and the Doctor looked at Martha, slightly embarrassed.

Martha paused and looked at them. "Do people shout that? Do they shout "Author"?"

A man next to her picked up the chant and soon it spread across all of the stands.

"Well, they do now." Rhea looked around at everyone. She smirked at Martha. "Looks like you've started a new fad."

A handsome man, with brown hair and short beard, strode outside and took an exaggerated bow, blowing kisses at the crowd. The audience went wild and cheered even louder. Rhea was reminded of her last time at a rock concert.

"He's a bit different from his portraits." Martha commented.

"He's a bit hot." Rhea corrected, eyeing the man up and down with appreciation. She shrieked when she felt a stinging pain on her side and glared at the Doctor, when she realised he had pinched her. She rolled her eyes at his obvious jealousy and bopped his hip with hers. She wrapped his arm around her waist, nestling into his chest from the back. "Don't worry, honey, you're still my favourite guy in the whole wide world." She smirked when he tightened his hold around her.

"Genius. He's a genius, _the_ genius." The Doctor commented, after he got over his brief jealousy. "The most human Human that's ever been. Now we're gonna hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words." The Doctor gushed.

Rhea shook her head. "You are _such_ a fanboy."

"Shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare shouted.

Rhea started laughing madly when she saw the disappointed look on the Doctor's face. She held onto him for stability as her body shook with her snickers.

"Oh, well." The Doctor said, lamely, his face falling.

"You should never meet your heroes." Martha said.

"You have excellent taste! I'll give you that." Shakespeare said, smugly. He pointed to a man in the front of the audience. "Oh, that's a wig!" He paused for dramatic effect. "I know what you're all saying. 'Loves Labour's Lost', that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops! Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius." He laughed and then bowed. Suddenly, he jerked upright in a very strange motion. "When? Tomorrow night."

The audience cheered, despite the stunned expressions on the cast's faces.

"The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it 'Loves Labour's Won'!"

The audience applauded loudly and the Doctor remained deathly still.

* * *

The Doctor, Rhea and Martha left the theatre with the rest of the crowd.

"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of 'Loves Labour's Won'." Martha said, as they walked outside the theatre.

"It was said to be the sequel to 'Love Labour's Lost', but no copies survived. Apparently, it doesn't exist…" Rhea trailed off.

"…only in rumours." The Doctor finished. "It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. No one knows why."

"Have you got a mini-disk or something?" Martha asked, excitedly. "We could tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint."

The Doctor and Rhea looked at her. "No." They said, simultaneously.

"That would we bad?" Martha asked, knowing the answer.

"Yeah." The Doctor and Rhea said, simultaneously, again, their eyebrows arching at the same time.

"Well, how come it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I was just gonna give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS but I suppose we could stay a bit longer." The Doctor said, his excitement clear in his voice.

"Such a fanboy." Rhea muttered.

* * *

They had followed Shakespeare and his troupe back to the Elephant inn. They came to an open room, where Shakespeare sat with two other men at the table, a barmaid and a maid.

The Doctor knocked on the door. "Hello! Excuse me! I'm not interrupting, am I? Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?" The Doctor said, excitedly.

Shakespeare looked annoyed and his head hung. "Oh no, no, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove-" He noticed Rhea and Martha standing behind the Doctor. More specifically, he noticed Rhea's hourglass frame and exotic features outlined in her dark makeup and tight leather pants and jacket, as well as, Martha's smooth, dark skin and slender figure in her maroon leather jacket and slim-fitting jeans. "Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me." He leered at the two women. He turned to the two men sitting next to him. "You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go."

The barmaid eyed Shakespeare's countenance and smiled knowingly. "Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse. Or muses."

"Sweet ladies." Shakespeare gestured to the now empty seats next to him.

Martha and Rhea sat at the table, the Doctor standing behind the latter, his hands on her shoulders in a proprietary manner. Rhea rolled her eyes and one of her hands went to his on her shoulders, covering it in a comforting manner. _Oh, please, honey, nothing's going to happen between me and William Shakespeare._

"Such unusual clothes. So... fitted." Shakespeare eyed the tightness of their clothing.

"Um, verily, forsooth, egads." Martha stammered.

The Doctor shook his head, resisting the urge to face-palm. "No, no, don't do that. Don't." He held out his psychic paper to Shakespeare. "I'm Sir Doctor of TARDIS and this is my _wife_," He stressed the word to Shakespeare, narrowing his eyes at the man. "Begum Sunehri. And this is our companion, Miss Martha Jones." The Doctor introduced each of them, nonchalantly, completely missing Rhea's wide eyes and absolutely still frame.

"Interesting," Shakespeare frowned at the psychic paper, pointing. "That bit of paper. It's blank."

The Doctor looked impressed. "Oh, that's... very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius." He said, happily, forgetting his ire towards the man for a moment as he lowered the psychic paper.

Rhea took a look at the paper herself. "It just sort of shimmers for me. I can see what you just said," She looked at the Doctor. "Like one of those motion cards you get in snack boxes. I used to collect them when I was a little girl."

"That's because you've trained yourself to see past an illusion." The Doctor told her. Rhea frowned and was about to ask him to elaborate but he continued.

Martha peered at the paper herself. "No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Begum Sunehri, Martha Jones. It says so." She turned to the Doctor. "What's a begum?"

"And I say it's blank." Shakespeare said.

"Psychic paper." The Doctor muttered to Martha. "Um, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch." He put the psychic paper away.

"Psychic. Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady and your delightful eastern Scheherazade?"

"What did you just say?" Rhea and Martha both asked at the same time, sharply, offended.

"Oops." Shakespeare said, smiling a little sheepishly. "Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric..." He turned to Rhea, who was barely resisting the urge to strangle him. "An Arabian sultana? A Mediterranean queen? A gypsy of Egypt?"

"I can't believe I'm actually hearing this." Martha said, bemused, letting out a shocked laugh.

The Doctor blew out a breath. "It's political correctness gone mad." The Doctor rubbed Rhea's arm, soothingly, seeing the fury in her eyes.

"I should punch him in the face on principle." Rhea muttered to the Doctor. "I'm not even Muslim!" _Not that I have a problem with Muslims. But they probably don't have a word for half-Indian, half-Italian in 1599, even so, it's the principle of the thing. I'm not a fucking gypsy!_

"Um, Martha and Rhea are from a far-off land. Freedonia." The Doctor explained the two women's reactions to Shakespeare's slurs.

Rhea rolled her eyes. _"_Freedonia?" Rhea hissed at him. He shrugged, having made it up on the spot.

A middle-aged man in livery, with a large curly beard, stormed into the room. "Excuse me!" The man scowled, interrupting them. "Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mr Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed." The man spat, the vein in his forehead bulging.

"Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it 'round." Shakespeare placated, sighing.

But it didn't stall the Master of the Revels. He shook his head. "I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine. The script, now!"

Shakespeare shook his head. "I can't." He said, sharply.

"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled." The man said, smirking.

"It's all go, 'round here, isn't it?" Martha muttered to Rhea, who snorted in amusement.

"I'm returning to my office for a banning order." He turned back to face them once he was at the door. "If it's the last thing I do, 'Love's Labours Won' will never be played." The man growled, before walking out of the door in a huff.

* * *

"Well, then... mystery solved. That's 'Love's Labours Won' over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know... more mysterious." Martha commented, taking a sip of her drink.

As if someone had heard Martha's words, they heard a scream coming from outside.

"And there's the cue." Rhea sighed and the Doctor and Rhea were on their feet, rushing in that direction, Martha close behind them.

They came out into the street to see the same man in livery who had just left, spitting up water as if he were choking.

"It's that Lynley bloke." Martha murmured.

"What's wrong with him?" The Doctor murmured. "Leave it to us, we're doctors." The Doctor shouted and went over to Lynley's side.

Rhea rushed after him, joining the Doctor beside the man as he coughed out jets of water. Rhea frowned when she looked at him, eyeing him from head to toe. The way he was coughing…

"So am I, near enough." She heard Martha say as she ran over to them.

"Doctor, he's not choking. I think he's drowning." Rhea called out to the Doctor just as Lynley fell to the ground. The Doctor stood and ran to look down the street, searching for something suspicious.

Martha rested her head on the man's chest, listening for a heartbeat and the state of his breathing. "Gotta get the heart going. Mr Lynley, c'mon, can you hear me? You're gonna be all right." She was just about to start resuscitating him when a final spurt of water gushed from his mouth and Rhea pulled her back. The Doctor returned and rejoined them at the prone figure.

"What the hell is that?" Martha asked, slightly afraid, looking between the two.

"He drowned." Rhea peered at the man. "His lungs were full of water." _But he's on land?_

"I've never seen a death like it. He drowned and then… I dunno, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow." He stood and addressed the woman from the inn, in a serious tone. "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

"Yes, sir."

A young, blonde woman joined them. "I'll do it, ma'am." She murmured.

The Doctor crouched back down beside the body.

Martha frowned. "And why are you telling them that?"

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic." The Doctor whispered furiously.

"They'll think it was witchcraft." Rhea told Martha, quietly.

"Okay, what was it then?" Martha asked.

"Witchcraft." The Doctor said, lowly, staring at Rhea, each giving the other a dark look.

* * *

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor." The innkeeper told them. "You and Lady Sunehri are just across the landing and Miss Jones is in the room next to yours." She left the room.

"Poor Lynley. So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?" Shakespeare said, looking up at Rhea and Martha.

"Where a woman can be whatever she wants to be." Martha said, defensively, crossing her arms.

"And you, Sir Doctor." Shakespeare said, turning to the man in the pinstripe suit, his face hard and one of his hands resting on the small of Rhea's back, stroking lightly. "How can a man so young have eyes so old?"

"I do a lot of reading." The Doctor said, seriously.

"A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do." He turned to Martha. "And you, you look at them like you're surprised they exist. They're as much of a puzzle to you as they are to me."

Martha stared at nothing in particular, awkwardly. "I should say goodnight." She gave Shakespeare a tight smile before walking out the door.

"And your lovely wife," He turned to Rhea. "Your eyes glow with distrust and look so tormented for someone so young, but you trust _him_." Shakespeare looked at the Doctor. Rhea tightened her hold on the Doctor's suit, pursing her lips.

"Okay, then!" Rhea drawled, clapping her hands after the awkwardness had passed slightly. "I think it's time for bed, don't you?" She said, looking meaningfully at the Doctor. When she was at the door, she turned back to face the Doctor. "_Husband,_" She said, darkly. "If you know what's _good_ for you, you'll join me." She purred, a dangerous smile that promised so much pain spreading across her face.

"I must work. I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours." Shakespeare murmured.

The Doctor turned back at the doorway to look at Shakespeare. "All the world's a stage."

"Hm, I might use that. Good night, Doctor."

"Now!" The Doctor heard Rhea's sharp voice from the doorway of their room.

He sighed. "Coming, dear." He turned to Shakespeare briefly. "Nighty-night, Shakespeare."

When he arrived at the room he was sharing with Rhea, he was surprised when Rhea yanked him in by the lapels of his suit jacket and shut the door behind her, plastering her back against the door.

"You have one minute to answer all of my questions." Rhea began, dangerously, glaring at him.

The Doctor held his hands out in a surrender. "All right, calm down." He soothed.

"First question," Rhea carried on, as if she hadn't heard the Doctor. "Wife? You want to tell me when we got married?" Rhea said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Spoilers?" He tried, but he slammed his mouth shut when Rhea narrowed her eyes.

"Don't be smart with me, time boy." She said, sternly. "Give me a proper answer."

"Fine!" The Doctor let out an exasperated growl. "I didn't like the way Shakespeare was looking at you."

Rhea softened and then grinned widely. "You were jealous." She teased.

"I don't get jealous." The Doctor said, gruffly.

She moved closer to him, so that she was standing right in front of him, barely any space left between them. "You are _such_ a liar." She whispered, patting him on the cheek, affectionately.

She looked around, examining their room, as the Doctor dropped his coat on a random chair.

"It's not very five-star, don't you think?" Rhea commented, her nose scrunching up as she stared at dirty walls and gritty furniture.

"Oh, it'll do. We've seen worse." The Doctor said, looking around himself.

Rhea raised an eyebrow and turned to him. "Well, I know I have. Where have you seen worse?"

"Spoilers."

"Shut up." Rhea muttered. She paused. "I don't have a toothbrush."

"Oh." The Doctor exclaimed, patting down his pockets and pulling out a toothbrush. "Contains Venusian spearmint." The Doctor smirked at her as he tossed her the brush.

"You think you're so impressive." Rhea rolled her eyes. She turned her attention back to the bed. The one bed. Big enough for two. _The things we could get up to… shut up, Rhea._

"Are you going to sleep on the floor? 'Cause there's only one bed." Rhea said.

"Yeah, right." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "We'll manage. C'mon." He threw himself onto the bed.

"So, witchcraft, huh?" Rhea said, matter-of-factly, still standing as she glared at the Doctor, who was lounging on the bed, happily. "Isn't it very Harry Potter?"

"Have you read Book Seven? I cried." The Doctor said.

"Of course I read Book Seven." Rhea said. "Watched the movie too. Wasn't too bad. I loved the line, "Not my daughter, you bitch". It was very Sigourney Weaver."

"But could it be real? Could it actually be witches behind all of this?"

"'Course it isn't!" The Doctor scoffed.

_Oh, no, you don't, time boy._ "Oh, yeah, because it's not like I live in a fucked up version of reality or anything. It's not like I'm in a bedroom in 1599 with a 900-year-old, time-and-space travelling alien, who I travel out of order with, who has three different faces, one of whom is incredibly insulting and has a penchant for the same two suits." She glared at him.

"Ten different faces." The Doctor corrected, then he looked guilty. "Sorry." He muttered.

"Eleven different faces." Rhea corrected, and then smiled, letting him know that she hadn't taken his condescension to heart. "Spoilers." She thought of something. "You are sexy, though."

The Doctor gave her a pleased smile. "It looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be. Are you gonna stand there all night?" He said, suddenly, breaking her away from her thoughts.

Rhea sighed and walked over to the bed. "Move over, then." Rhea gave him a look. He shuffled across the bed, leaving one half open to her. She settled herself against the headboard, comfortably, her legs stretched across the bed. "There isn't much room. Although…tongues would wag if there was a lot of room. We are a _married _couple."

But the Doctor was oblivious to her teasing. "There's such a thing as psychic energy but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that." He shifted so that he was on his side, facing her. "What do you think?"

Rhea shrugged as best as she could in her position. "Maybe it's an alien that operates like a witch."

The Doctor frowned. He raised himself onto his elbow that he could look down at her. "What makes you say that?"

Rhea rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, everything that we've been through had to do with aliens somehow. We went to 1953 and the Queen's coronation and were confronted with a face-stealing alien in a television set. It _always_ has to do with aliens."

"There's something I'm missing, Rhea." Rhea slid down the bed, so that they were the same height, and turned onto her hip, so that she was facing him as well. "Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it." He looked her in the eye and brushed a lock of her hair away from her face.

"Although…" Rhea trailed off, making the Doctor look at her. "Did you notice something? Why would Shakespeare announce to the crowd that Love's Labours Won was going to be performed tomorrow if he hadn't even finished the play? And isn't it suspicious that Lynley died just after he said that Love's Labours Won would never be performed?

"I think you may be right." He moved onto his back, breaking their eye contact. "Still, can't be helped. I'll take Martha back home tomorrow."

"Don't be so mean to Martha." Rhea said, sternly. "She's doing fine for her first trip and a fresh set of eyes might just be what you need." She paused and moved closer to him, placing a warm hand on his hip. "I know you've just lost Rose, but don't show it on Martha. She could be good for you."

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. "I have you, though."

"Oh, honey, of course you do, but I'm not always there and I'm not always the same. Martha can be more of a constant for you than I am, just like Rose was." She paused, then smiled at him. "You know, you didn't finish answering my questions. Why am I a begum? How do you even know what a begum is? And why are you 'Sir Doctor of TARDIS'?" She asked, mocking his title.

"You're a begum, because you felt being a Dame was too imperialist. As for how you became a begum and why I am 'Sir Doctor of TARDIS', spoilers." He said, cheekily. "Of course I know what a begum is. I know everything."

Rhea shrugged. "That does sound like me." She smiled, satisfied. "I kind of like the idea of being a begum. It sounds very Persian." She paused. "My grandmother is probably rolling around in her grave this very moment. Why does the psychic paper shimmer when I look at it?" She slid closer to him, resting her head on her arm.

"You don't believe in illusions." The Doctor said, bluntly. "You've trained yourself to look past illusions and see the truth of a situation. You're a warrior. That's why you can tell the difference between psychic paper and real paper. You're not a genius, like Shakespeare, that's why you can't just see blank paper."

"Oh, well, thanks." Rhea said, sarcastically. She snuggled into his side and shifted around, so that her back was pressed against his chest. "Put one of your arms around my waist." She ordered.

"What? Why?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"You're my _husband_." She purred. "You have to cuddle me when we sleep." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, only half-joking.

The Doctor sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest. She rolled her eyes. She wasn't a cuddler, to be honest. She had never been cuddled in bed before. It felt nice. She wasn't a warm kind of person anyway. She was the kind of girl who put the air-conditioning on at night in the middle of winter. Her hand covered his hand over her waist and she burrowed into the pillow.

* * *

Hours had passed, and the Doctor remained wide awake, thinking about the events that had occurred during the day, specifically the questions Rhea had raised before she had fallen asleep. The woman, herself, had shifted in her sleep, facing him now instead of away. During her slumber, she had thrown her arm across his waist and nuzzled into his shoulder, humming with a soft smile, her head lying on his chest. Her legs had ended up entwined with his, her ankles locked around his, so that she was practically lying on top of him. One of his hands absently stroked up and down Rhea's spine and the other hand toyed with her hair, twisting her curls in his fingers. His lips pressed against the top of her head in a kiss, smiling down at her.

Rhea woke up, slowly, bleary-eyed. She narrowed her eyes at her surroundings and even more at the fact that she was currently lying on top of the Doctor. She blinked furiously. "What am I lying on top of you?" She asked, carefully, using her hand on his chest to push herself into a seating position.

"Um, well, you fell asleep and you sort of…" The Doctor motioned in a way that finished his explanation without any more words.

"Ah!" Rhea nodded. _Well, it does feel good when I'm close to him… don't you dare. _Flashes of claustrophobia singed her hands, forcing her to recoil away from the Doctor, from anyone who might try and touch her at a vulnerable time like when she was tired.

And, suddenly, it was awkward between them.

They both jumped up and were at the door the minute they heard a woman scream. When they rushed out the door, Rhea saw Martha coming out of her own room, no longer wearing her leather jacket, and following the Doctor and Rhea to where the scream had come from.

Shakespeare woke with a start when the three entered and they all stopped to examine the innkeeper's, Dolly's, body.

"Wha'? What was that?" Shakespeare asked, groggily.

Rhea and Martha ran to the window where they saw a silhouette of a woman on a broom flying in the sky.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Rhea moaned, running her hands through her hair, gripping the strands tightly in a fit of stress and annoyance.

"Her heart gave out. She died of fright." The Doctor said.

"Doctor?" Martha called out and the Doctor joined the two women at the window.

"What did you see?" The Doctor asked, looking between the two.

"A witch." Rhea and Martha said, simultaneously.

* * *

The three of them sat opposite Shakespeare at his desk.

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit." Shakespeare said, mournfully, his grief for the woman clear in his voice.

"'Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'" The Doctor quoted.

"I might use that." Shakespeare said.

Rhea sighed, looking up at the playwright. "You can't. It's someone else's."

"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright and they were both connected to you." Martha said, looking at Shakespeare.

Shakespeare raised an eyebrow, his hackles rising. "You're accusing me?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't think it has to do with you, specifically, I think it has to do with your play. This all started with 'Love's Labours Won'." Rhea mused.

"But I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches." Martha said, looking at Shakespeare.

"I have?" Shakespeare's eyebrows furrowed. "When was that?"

"Not, not quite yet." The Doctor said, in a low voice.

"Peter Streete spoke of witches." Shakespeare suddenly said.

"Who's Peter Streete?" Martha asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe."

"The architect. Hold on." The Doctor's eyes widened. He looked at Rhea, who was simply staring at him, bemused. "The architect! The architect!" He slammed his fist on the table, making all of them jump. "The Globe! Come on!"

He rushed off and Rhea gave the other two an apologetic look. "He does this a lot. They're like Eureka moments for him." Rhea was attempting to explain when the Doctor rushed back and grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him, forcing her to yelp, Martha and Shakespeare following them. "I'm coming! Calm down!"

* * *

The Doctor stood in the pit, while Martha, Shakespeare and Rhea were on the stage, the latter sitting on the edge and looking around, suspiciously.

"The columns there, right? 14 sides. I've always wondered but I never asked... tell me, Will, why 14 sides?" The Doctor asked, turning to look back at Shakespeare.

"It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well." Shakespeare said.

"Why does that ring a bell? 14…"

"There are 14 lines in a sonnet." Martha supplied.

The Doctor gave her a proud look. "So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design." He started pacing. "14 lines, 14 sides, 14 facets…Oh, my head. Tetradecagon... think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"

"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare said, defensively.

"Oh, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time... Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place." The Doctor said, coming up and standing next to where Rhea's legs swung.

"And if you exaggerate that..." Rhea murmured.

"It's like you're police box. Small wooden box with all that _power_ inside." Martha said.

"Oh, I like her." Rhea told the Doctor, pointing back at Martha. She, then, looked back herself. "Very much."

"Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?" The Doctor asked Shakespeare.

"You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place... lost his mind."

"Why?" Rhea asked, her curiosity peaked. "What happened?" She threw herself down into the pit and turned to face Shakespeare, standing side-by-side with the Doctor.

"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Now _that_ is interesting." Rhea said to the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Where is he now?"

"Bedlam."

Rhea tensed. "Oh, wonderful." She said, sarcastically, running her hand through her hair in agitation. She cooled down after the Doctor squeezed her knee, looking at her in worry. She gave him a weary smile, letting him know she was alright.

"What's Bedlam?" Martha asked, looking between Rhea and Shakespeare.

"Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse."

"We're gonna go there. Right now. Come on." The Doctor said, heading out of the theatre, with Rhea at his side.

Martha followed, as did Shakespeare. "Wait! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand!"

Two young actors entered the theatre just as they were leaving. "Ralph, the last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round. Learn it. Speak it. Back before curtain up. Remember, kid, project. Eyes and teeth. You never know, the Queen might turn up." Shakespeare told the actor, patting him on the back. "As if. She never does." He muttered on his way out.

* * *

"So, tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors." Shakespeare said to Martha, as they followed the Doctor and Rhea.

"This country's ruled by a woman." Martha said.

"Ah, she's royal. That's God's business." He eyed her. "Though you are a royal beauty." He leered.

Martha stopped, a bit flattered but a bit confused. "Whoa, Nelly! I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country."

"But Martha, this is Town." He said, cheekily.

"Come on. We can all have a good flirt later." The Doctor huffed. Rhea laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Is that a promise, Doctor?" Shakespeare grinned.

"Oh, 57 academics just punched the air." Rhea muttered to the Doctor, making him smirk at her.

"Move!" The Doctor ordered.

* * *

A/N: And that was the end of the first chapter of _The Shakespeare Code_. I hope you liked the chapter. And, by the way, I'm so glad you all seemed to like the sneak preview of _Bad Moon Rising. Bad Moon Rising_ will actually be the second story in the series, my version of Season 2. But the actual series will start off in _Dalek_ and continue through the rest of Season 1 and on. The first story will be called _Dream Weaver_ and please don't ask me when it will be up, I have no idea yet.

This chapter brought out a few things about the Doctor's and Rhea's relationship and about Rhea herself. First of all, the title, it's a pun on the movie, _The Witches of Eastwick_, starring Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon. I thought it would be fitting for this episode.

I always thought that Rhea might feel that way in Shakespeare's London, because she isn't white. She does have a similar problem to Martha in the sense that they wouldn't exactly fit in. And there was some jealousy in this chapter, Rhea would never go for Shakespeare, so, don't worry. And it was sweet how she told the Doctor he was her favourite guy in the world.

There was a lot of cultural stuff in this chapter as well, especially in that first scene between Shakespeare, the Doctor, Rhea and Martha. The Doctor called Rhea his wife! Is that a hint to something or is he just jealous? As for why he called her Begum, instead of Dame or Lady, Begum is a title given to women, at least since the 18th century, of aristocratic rank, like a knight's wife. The British Empire did used to give out that title and I felt it would be appropriate for Rhea in that situation. Rhea will have some problems in _Tooth and Claw_, she won't be able to adapt as quickly as the Doctor and Rose did, mainly because she is part Indian. As an Indian, I am aware that the British occupation of India is a very sore concept for a lot of Indians in today's day as well and I thought it would be interesting to add that dynamic. Rhea will show that more in _Tooth and Claw_, but I thought it would be nice if I gave you a little sneak preview.

As for what Shakespeare called Rhea, India didn't really have a lot of place in Shakespeare's time, so I decided to go with a Persian kind of influence with what he said, like "sultana", "Mediterranean" and "gypsy of Egypt", because at that time India was heavily influenced by Persia. And please don't take Rhea's comment about not being Muslim to heart, she has no problem with Muslims and neither do I, she's just pointing out the complete inaccuracy with what Shakespeare's calling her.

And there was a nice scene between Rhea and the Doctor in the bedroom, don't you think? There was _a lot _of flirting. And she doesn't take any crap from him, she gives it right back and she told him to be nicer to Martha. Rhea hasn't had the chance to get close to Rose yet, so she's not feeling the loss yet. There was a nice scene between the Doctor and Rhea will she was sleeping as well. And I hope you thought the psychic paper explanation believable. I didn't want her to be a genius and just see blank paper, but I wanted her to be able to see the difference between real and psychic paper. More about Rhea's "training" will come through in later chapters. And I think "warrior" sort of sums up Rhea at the moment. And Bedlam. Bedlam is going to affect Rhea in quite a few ways. Stick around and find out!

Read and Review!


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